The dad of four adult sons died when a car in which he was a passenger crashed and erupted into flames during a Father’s Day street racing incident Sunday.

Friends and family identified the passenger as Garry Pfalmer. 

Arapahoe County Sheriff’s officials said the driver of a black Chevy Camaro started a street racing challenge with another car. They got the call at around 1:27 p.m.

Investigators heard from bystanders who watched in horror as the Camaro weaved in and out of traffic, speeding at 100-120 miles per hour driving east on East Dry Creek Road in Centennial, before the vehicle hit a bump in the street and went airborne at Yosemite Street.

Tire tracks carved into the mud show the car careened to the sidewalk adjacent to a multi-unit apartment complex, missed pedestrians who were out for a stroll, hit a parking garage and burst into flames.

On Monday, a torn piece of the vehicle’s front hood marked with the words “Supercharged” lay among the branches of a torn pine tree. A pair of blue plastic forensic gloves were discarded nearby.

Pfalmer, 70, and an unnamed driver died in the inferno. The Arapahoe County Coroner’s office said it would officially identify the second person once family was notified.

“We heard a loud boom, but we didn’t hear the sound of brakes screeching,” said Amela Ajanovic, who showed up to work on her day off at the Walgreen’s across the street from where the accident happened. “It’s so sad. And on Father’s Day, too.” 

“It was so scary. We had no warning,” said Hailey Bradshaw, also a Walgreen’s employee.

Bradshaw said she smelled burning rubber inside the store. Bradshaw and Alanovic said traumatized customers came into the store with their heads in their hands after witnessing the horrific scene.

“A deputy came in to get surveillance video of the crash and it showed people walking on the sidewalk just minutes before the accident,” said Alanovic. 

No pedestrians were injured in the incident and it’s unknown what happened to the second car which started out taking on the street racing challenge. 

Nathan Farler saw the vehicle in flames from the Walgreens parking lot. “It was basically in the apartments’ back yard,” said Farler. “I saw the tree and the parking garage on fire and saw the fire department putting out the fire.”

South Metro Fire responded to the crash at 1:27 p.m. along with deputies with Arapahoe County.

A friend said Pfalmer moved to Colorado within the past year and lived with one of his children.

“He raised four sons by himself. He was truly a happy person,” said Brooke McWilliams. She said she recently made the trip to Colorado to visit Pfalmer, who was a heavy machinery mechanic in Alaska.

Sunday’s crash was the second ironic tragedy to beset Pfalmer ‘s family, as Pfalmer’s father was an Anchorage police officer who was shot and paralyzed while stopping a stolen vehicle almost 70 years to the day of Sunday’s accident.

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, William Pfalmer, Jr. lived for 17 years before he succumbed to his wounds during corrective surgery.

McWilliams, who lives in Nevada City, California, got a text from Pfalmer on Father’s Day morning, just hours before he died.

She said he had Parkinson’s disease and was feeling lonely because he didn’t have a lot of friends in Colorado. One day not too long ago, he told her that he wanted to live life to the fullest despite his illness, “because he said he could step off of a curb and die tomorrow.”