It’s a hot summer afternoon down in Macon, Georgia. Not a breeze anywhere. Public Safety Officer Dillingham is easing along in his patrol car, eyeballing the public.

Meanwhile, a block away on Dutton Street, here’s Belinda, a bottle-blonde, sitting in her Pontiac waiting for her boyfriend to get off work. Moments from now Belinda and PSO Dillingham will meet face to face.

Belinda is very conscious of her appearance. She’s a clothing conservationist. She wears no more yardgoods on her body than is absolutely required to keep her from getting arrested for indecent exposure.

Expecting her boyfriend, Belinda checks her makeup in the rearview mirror and finds everything perfect. Now she’s working to get her hair properly teased and ready for the final touch.

Final touch? Hairspray. Three additional whisps of the teasing brush; a pooch with the palm of her hand here and another pooch there and she’s ready.

WOOSH goes the spray around the back, over to one side, then toward the front. Did I mention that Belinda is a heavy smoker? Well, just as the cloud of hairspray touches the front of her fluffed, golden locks, the volatile mist comes in contact with the redhot, glowing ember at the end of her king-sized cigarette.

"From here it looked like the entire inside of the car lit up with fire," said a witness standing in front of the barber shop. "Flames was even coming out of the front window," he added.

Belinda leaps out of the car just as PSO Dillingham arrives at the scene. Crying and shaking, she begins beating on the officer’s chest as if the whole stupid thing is his fault.

Amazingly, she isn’t badly hurt. The only damage is to her smoldering hairdo-and her pride. Moments later the woman again begins crying hysterically as she sees her boyfriend arrive. He is, of course, laughing uncontrollably at the sight of his lady friend’s "do."