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A section of a busy Northern Virginia road turned into the Thunderdome yesterday when police responded a scene featuring two men fighting using instruments of punishment one does not usually see around these parts.

One man wielded a machete, while the other was swinging a chain, Officer Eddy Azcárate of the Fairfax County Police says. Oh, and behind the combatants was a burning tow truck. The scene, which seems ripped from a blood-drenched B-movie, was first reported by Lorton Patch.

Police and firefighters responded to the scene on the 8100 block of Richmond Highway about 1:18 p.m. yesterday. The blazing truck, which was unattended, was promptly extinguished. The man with the machete was arrested, Azcárate said, while his chain-lashing opponent suffered minor injuries in the duel. However, he did not require transportation to any hospital. “Presumably he took himself to get checked out,” Azcárate says.

Whatever prompted the fight and the fire is still being investigated, but Azcárate says they are connected.

“One led to the other,” he says. “They’re not necessarily related, but one came from the other.”

At least authorities are taking the description of this melee in stride, as reading back the notes Azcárate provided caused a laughing fit. “You’re not the first to chuckle about this,” he says.

The investigation is ongoing, and could certainly turn weirder. In the mean time, how about the trailer for Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome?