Dick Van Dyke’s ride is toast, but he’s unscathed after car fire

According to Dick Van Dyke, “Somebody’s looking after me!� And ain’t that the truth, after he escaped without a scratch Monday while his car burned up on the side of the 101 Freeway.

“Van Dyke’s melted car ... He’s fine thank God!!,� his wife, Arlene, tweeted after the incident, including a link to a short Vine video of the actor’s fried ride.

Though according to the California Highway Patrol accident log it was two off-duty nurses who yanked the 87-year-old out of the four-door sedan, Van Dyke told a TMZ cameraman it was just an ordinary citizen, and “a fireman and a nurse and a cop just happened to be passing by.� Hence the guardian-angel chat. Van Dyke — who noted that he got out long before the fire really caught — said he was trying to call “the DMV,� but the fellow who yanked him from the car thought he had passed out.

The car “just started making a noise,� the actor told the cameraman. “I thought I had a flat at first, and then it started smoking, then it burned to a crisp.�

The two right lanes of the eastbound 101, near Parkway Calabasas, were briefly closed around 2 p.m. when the fire was burning, L.A. Now reported.

Meanwhile, Dick hitched a ride home with Arlene, who’d come to pick him up.

“Tell ‘em I have a nice used car for sale,� he joked to the camera.

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