If it weren’t for his leather jacket, Ogden Carter might not be around to talk about what happened on Jan. 17, when an engine fire and explosion tore the roof off his Slidell home.

“We were going to take the car to the track and test it out, so I already had my jacket on,” said Carter. “If I hadn’t I might have been burned pretty badly, or worse.”

Carter and a friend had been working for several months to restore a 1975 Camaro. He had sunk about $10,000 into the car and painted it in his favorite colors, candy cherry red and metallic silver. The engine had successfully cranked earlier that day, so the two men had no reason to think there were any problems.

Niya Jackson-Carter, left, is pictured with her husband, Ogden Carter and their 14-month-old son, Tyler. The family was left homeless when an engine fire and resulting explosion destroyed their Kingspoint home on Jan. 17. (Staff Photo by Anne Lautzenheiser)

His friend left to get a trailer, and Carter stayed behind to tidy up the garage and tinker a bit more. Upon starting the engine a second time, however, flames erupted beneath the hood. Carter ran to get a fire extinguisher and returned just in time to see the engine blow.

“Either the fuel line wasn’t tightened up, or the carburetor backfired, maybe both,” he said. “The ignition was still engaged when I ran out, and I think that helped cause the explosion.”

A second explosion occurred when a propane tank ruptured, and the resulting blast sent Carter through the garage door.

Carter’s wife, Niya, was out shopping with the couple’s 14-month-old son, Tyler, a lucky coincidence since the boy rarely leaves his side.

“I was just so glad they weren’t home, because otherwise he would have been in here with me,” said Carter.

A second car, a Cadillac, was parked in the driveway. Carter braved the flames and attempted to move the vehicle, but a neighbor raced across the street to pull him away. It sustained heavy damage, but there were no more explosions.

Carter worked offshore all his life before a November 2007 accident left him permanently disabled. The house was insured, but not its contents, and since the fire looters have helped themselves to what was left, taking things that could possibly have been salvaged.

The couple has been staying at the Deluxe Motel, thanks to a number of community groups and churches, including First Baptist Church of Slidell, the Red Cross, Community Christian Concern and Crescent City Carpenter’s House. Niya’s employer, Wee Wisdom Learning Center, collected donations of clothing and gift cards for the family, as did the Greater Ebenezer Baptist Church in Bogalusa.

The Carters have lived in Kingspoint for three years. Carter’s father still lives in Slidell but is still struggling to repair his hurricane-damaged home.

Pastor Kathleen Javery-Bacon of the Holy Ghost & Fire World Outreach Center has been working to get an extension at the motel. Arrangements have also been made with A Storage Inn on U.S. Highway 11 in Pearl River to store donations of furniture or other household items. In addition, a donation account has been set up at Capital One Bank.

“The next step is to get these folks into an apartment,” said Javery-Bacon.

To donate furniture or other items to the Carter family, call 643-4170 or (678) 908-2499.

Contributions may also be made at any Capital One branch in the name of Ogden Junius Carter.