High pitch tone from both front wheel area

[wsmcdowall]

Hello all ~

I've got a 1999 986 w/5 speed and 119000 miles effortlessly. Today, I noticed a whiff of brakes while driving. I started home and noticed when I push in the clutch at a stop, the car does not do its tiny gentle roll backward that all manuals will do when feathering before takeoff. Ok...parking brake or just brakes in general, right? No problem.

One block from home doing 25mph the check engine light starts flashing and it goes into what can be described as a 'limp home' mode. I gently limp along nearly home and then the CEL goes on full time. Another 100 yards and full-stop, total shutdown. Car will not restart. So, I call a tow truck. 5 minutes later, I make one last attempt. Car starts right up. No CEL. I finish the trip home. In the garage, it smells like hell! Brakes, big time! But here's my question....there's a dull, high pitch tone coming from both front wheel arches. What might you guess the tone is?