OTTAWA COUNTY, MI – Newlyweds Brendan and Isabel Kiel, standing on the I-196 shoulder with their bridal party, made the best of it when their rented Hummer limousine burst into flames.
He recalled being in disbelief.
She said: “I think we were all just laughing the whole time.”
Photos and video of the vehicle fire, and the wedding party on the side of the highway, have gone viral on social media.
Motorists captured some of the images.
A wedding photographer documented the bridal party before, during and after the fire – including shots posing with Jamestown Township firefighters and Ottawa County sheriff’s deputies and cooling off in a patrol car.
The Kiels, who attended St. John’s High School together, live in Jackson. They have dated 10 years and were married Friday, June 24, in Grand Rapids.
The bridal party was headed to Kollen Park in Holland for photos before the reception at nearby Port 393, overlooking Lake Macatawa.
The limo driver pulled to the side of the highway near the Hudsonville exit after the vehicle overheated. White smoke appeared to waft from the engine compartment.
Before long, with the air conditioner off and outside temperature nearing 90, the limo’s interior heated up. The Kiels and their bridal party got out. Then, the white smoke turned black, flames erupted and tires popped.
“It happened so quick,” photographer Andi Bennett, of Andi B Photography, told MLive/The Grand Rapids Press.
She said everyone backed away when the fire exploded and spread the length of the limo.
“It was a pretty scary situation,” she said.
The bride left her purse and wallet behind, not expecting that the limousine would go up in flames. She left her shoes, too, and the pavement was hot.
The bridesmaids’ bouquets burned up. So did the groomsmen’s rented coats. The best part: Bennett grabbed her photography equipment before she got out of the limo and coolers packed with ice kept the fire from reaching the beer and White Claw Hard Seltzer.
The limousine company called in another vehicle.
Because of the delay, the wedding party went straight to the reception. Bennett shot photos of the bride and groom at Kollen Park.
“We did have plans and everything that kind of got pushed back and rushed some things,” Isabel Kiel said. “Hush, all in all, it was very fun. It was definitely more memorable.”
After the reception, the wedding party went to a bar where the bride showed her burned identification. A man there had been stuck in traffic during the fire. He had taken video of the Kiels and their friends standing along the highway.
It was already on social media.
“Everybody in the bar knew what happened from photos of us on the side of the road,” the bride said. “The guy was on his way home from work taking video. (He said), ‘That was you in the video?’”
The limousine company said it would replace lost belongings.
The couple said they were glad everyone was safe. Now, they have their own wedding story.
“I wanted a unique wedding but I didn’t know it’d be this unique,” she said.
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