ALPINE TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Almost three weeks after a fire ripped through a storage center in Kent County, a man has been reunited with his most prized possession, which was spared from those flames.
It's no surprise that Matt Turnquist's favorite movie is Back to the Future. When the fire happened, you can imagine how nervous he was that his 1981 DeLorean would be destroyed. After weeks of waiting, he was finally able to get it back.
"I have owned the car for 7 years and I found the ad for it on Craigslist in Panora, Iowa," Turnquist said.
Turnquist, like many, grew up a fan of the 1985 film Back to the Future, which features a DeLorean as a time machine.
"For a long time when I was watching Back to the Future I never knew that the car existed 'til about when I was in sixth grade and I realized that it was a real car," he said. "Then I started doing research on it and I'm like, I would like to buy one of those someday."
That dream became a reality, and Turnquist kept the car at the National Storage Center Facility in Comstock Park. A fire destroyed 180 units there June 28.
"I was like 'Oh no, my car is there!'" he said. "Luckily, my car was not harmed."
Turnquist wasn't able to get to his car until recently because the storage center is still closed off. He was finally able to schedule an appointment a week after the fire to get his car, which luckily only had a light coating of dust. Now, he's excited to get back out on the road.
"I always see people driving by me and they're staring at the car and pointing their cellphone at it or camera and then they just pass by me," he said.
Tunquist says the car is valued around $40,000. FOX 17 reached out to fire officials, but there's no word yet on what caused that fire. The storage facility did have insurance and is working with customers who did lose their possessions.
