A stolen car found fully engulfed in flames ignited brush close to homes in North Burnaby early Friday morning.
Firefighters were called to the very north end of North Delta Avenue in the Capitol Hill neighbourhood just before 2 a.m., according to assistant fire Chief Darcy Robinson.
On arrival, they found a burning Honda Accord and flames in nearby bushes, he said.
Firefighters knocked down the fire in the bushes first and then sprayed foam and water on the burning car.
“There was a home nearby, and that’s why they went directly to putting the shrubbery out so that it wouldn’t work its way up toward the house,” Robinson told the NOW.
Firefighters left the scene in the care of the RCMP at about 2:40 a.m.
“I guess at that time it had been reported that the Honda Accord was a stolen vehicle,” Robinson said.
This was the second burning vehicle the fire department has put out in North Burnaby in less than 48 hours.
Crews were called to Grove Street by Curtis Avenue on Wednesday at about 11:30 p.m., according to Robinson.
That fire had spread to a hedge by a nearby home, he said.
With record high temperatures recorded in the Lower Mainland earlier this week, vehicle fires pose a serious threat, according to Robinson.
“They can happen quite quickly,” he said. “Depending on the time of night and no one’s around, it can get serious.”
During a spate of recent gang shootings in the Lower Mainland, stolen vehicles used during the attacks have often been found torched in neighbouring cities.
Police are investigating whether the burning Honda Accord was linked to any other incidents in the Lower Mainland, according to Burnaby RCMP, but there haven't been any recent shots-fired calls, and the gang enforcement team is not involved in the investigation at this time.
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