When Dru Downing saw smoke rising from near the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in Niles Wednesday morning, he could not help but think of three years ago when the building was destroyed by an arson fire.

“The first thing I thought about was the FOP,” said the Niles resident, who was outside shoveling the driveway in front of his home off State Street around 11 a.m.

The fire turned out to have nothing to do with the FOP lodge, except for the fact that it occurred about 100 yards away from the building near the intersection of State Street and FOP Drive.

A Cassopolis woman said she had just left Lakeland Hospital for home and took State Street at the advice of her GPS.

“I’m new to the area,” said Mary O’Connell Stary.

Stary didn’t know she would eventually have to drive down a steep hill at the end of State Street. When she got to the bottom of the hill at the intersection of FOP and State, a large snow pile kept her from going any farther.

Stary turned the car around and attempted to go back up the State Street hill, but icy road conditions would not allow her to get to the top.

After about five tries, Stary said she saw black smoke coming from the engine of her black Pontiac Grand Prix.

“I got the heck out of the car,” said Stary, who then called 911.

Niles firefighters arrived to find the vehicle engulfed in flames. It took three firefighters only a few minutes to put out the fire.

Stary said a person she knows in Niles would pick her up.

The vehicle was a total loss.