Watching a car that's your pride and joy burn to a crisp in a fire must be distressing, particularly when it happens to be a vintage DeLorean DMC-12. Recently, 22-year old Daryl Kemsley, who runs an automotive YouTube channel for gearheads, was driving his 1981 DeLorean around Orem, Utah, earlier this month. It was his dream car as a child. And now he was involved in a hit and run accident. Another driver rear-ended the DeLorean but didn't stop at the scene of the accident.

According to Jalopnik, the impact was minor but as Kemsley tried to pursue the other driver he found that the DeLorean refused to go more than 25 or 30 mph. Kemsley soon spotted smoke coming from the rear of the car. After pulling into a nearby Rite Aid parking lot to assess the situation, he then noticed flames coming from the car's rear engine bay.

Unfortunately, his day only got worse from there. Kemsley claims that he went into the Rite Aid and asked to use their fire extinguisher to try and save the burning DeLorean, but an employee refused to help them. "I called 911 and ran into Rite Aid, and politely asked the cashier if I can borrow their fire extinguisher that was RIGHT there next to her. She told me that I could not use it because it was company property," he wrote on Facebook. "I then pointed to my car on fire, and all she said was 'Call 911', (I already was talking to them on the phone). I then ask if she can help or go extinguish it since she wouldn't let me use it, and she told me she didn't know how to use it."

I stood there in front of her for minutes begging and pleading to borrow the fire extinguisher, all while the flames got bigger. Eventually, a stranger handed me a portable fire extinguisher he had, and I tried to go fight the now huge flames with it, but it was too late. The flame eventually engulfed my vintage, collectors 1 previous owner DeLorean (that I was selling for a large amount later today), and the fire department put it out." Coincidentally, Kemsley had just agreed to sell the car for $70,000 and was driving back from a mechanic after a pre-sale inspection. It isn't clear how the fire started, but you have to feel for the owner knowing that the car could have been saved if the employee was more compassionate.

He also says he suffered minor burns while trying to save the DeLorean. However, other sources are claiming that this was no accident. As Jalopnik reports, a comment was deleted on Facebook claiming that the event didn't pan out as Kemsley claims. "I'm the girl who handed you the Rite Aid fire extinguisher, which you refused," it read. "Why are you lying about this story?" DeLorean Performance Industries is also accusing Kemsley of falsely claiming that the company fully restored the car "to get a premium in the sale," and "he decided to [destroy-torch] the car in an attempt to collect his assured value." Kemsley denies any wrongdoing.