UPDATE: Man charged with arson following street car fire
THICK, dark smoke and loud 'explosive pops' had neighbours rushing to the scene of a car fire yesterday evening at Elizabeth St.
Gympie
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UPDATE Monday 4pm:
A CRIME scene was declared and one man charged with arson following a car fire at Elizabeth St on Saturday evening.
Gympie police CIB sergeant Rob Lowry said the incident occurred when flatmates had been drinking at home and the car was lit.
He said the occupants of the house managed to subdue the fire before it flared up again around 6pm when the roaring blaze gutted the car the threatened the house just metres away.
Neighbours rushed to the scene after seeing thick dark smoke and hearing loud 'explosive pops' coming from the property.
Usually a quite residential street, nearby resident Michelle Honey said the vehicle, which was parked inside a fenced yard had large flames spilling from its body and onto the fence.
Within minutes a Gympie Queensland Fire and Emergency Service crew arrived and extinguished the blaze, leaving a shell of a car and a burnt out fence.
A Gympie QFES spokesman said the fire came very close to the house and with a leaking near-full fuel tank in the car, it had the potential for the event to be very serious.
He said power to the house was isolated overnight due to damage to the home's power line running directly above where the car had been parked.
A 37-year-old man is due to appear in Gympie Magistrates Court on February 20.
SUNDAY 7am:
THICK, dark smoke and loud 'explosive pops' had neighbours rushing to the scene of a car fire yesterday evening at Elizabeth St.
The vehicle, which was parked inside a fenced yard and had large flames spilling from its body and onto the fence, was threatening the house just metres away.
Usually a quite residential street, nearby resident Michelle Honey (who captured the event on video) said neighbours came rushing out around 6pm to find the home owner safely on the street and awaiting emergency services.
Within minutes a Gympie Queensland Fire and Emergency Service crew arrived and extinguished the blaze, leaving a shell of a car and a burnt out fence.
A Gympie QFES spokesman said the fire came very close to the house and with a leaking near-full fuel tank in the car, it had the potential for the event to be very serious.
He said power to the house was isolated overnight due to damage to the home's power line running directly above where the car had been parked.
Police officers, paramedics and Energex workers were also on the scene.
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