Crews from North Cowichan’s Maple Bay and South End fire halls rushed to a home on Belcarra Road in Maple Bay on Monday morning to find a lovingly crafted Christmas display on the front lawn and a compact car completely ablaze in the driveway.
Martin Drakeley, fire chief and senior manager of bylaw services said crews from the two halls were able to get on scene quickly and contain the fire to the car.
“It was pretty spectacular,” he said of the blaze. “A fuel tank had let go and they ended up chasing burning fuel down the street.”
Neighbour Alanah Downie said she heard the commotion before she saw it.
“I heard two explosions before looking outside to see where the noise was from,” she said. “The car was fully engulfed.”
Downie called 911 and said the operator told her they were receiving multiple calls.
Downie added that although the vehicle is destroyed, to the best of her knowledge, nobody was physically hurt, and that once the fire was out and the crews had returned to their respective halls, one of the owners was outside taking photos of the wreck, being helped by some other neighbours.
“I’m sorry about their car but so grateful they and their home seem safe,” Downie said. “They got very lucky.”
Firefighters began leaving the scene around 10 a.m.
Drakeley confirmed there were no physical injuries and that the fire only ruined the car.
“It was licking at the soffits on the house so they were able to stop that from occurring,” Drakeley reported. “And they had quite an extensive display out front so they were were able to save Christmas by keeping it away from the ornaments.”
