Residents were shocked after a car was left burned out near a Cardiff park. Fire crews attended Victoria Park Road East, near Victoria Park in Canton, on Thursday night after reports of a car on fire. Crews battled the fire for around half an hour with residents in the area reporting a "big bang" and seeing flames "15-20 ft high."
Videos from residents on Thursday night showed the Audi A1 engulfed in flames, while pictures from the scene on Friday morning showed the vehicle completely burned out along with damage to nearby hedges and a rubbish bin.
Speaking to WalesOnline residents in the area said they were shocked and that incidents in the area were rare. One resident on Victoria Park Road East who didn't want to be named said: "I looked out the curtains last night and saw the flames leaping up. They were about 15, 20ft high. It was an inferno. I don't know if it was glass or something else, but you could hear loads of popping."
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"My son heard there were a couple of people arguing and screaming last night. That car isn't from around here. It's not owned by someone from around here. There are no number plates either that I can see. As long as it's not my car [it's fine]. I'm parked a few cars away so no issues.
"There are no problems [in the area] really. You do get it sometimes. It's a busy road, you know, between Canton and Fairwater. You do get people driving down shouting, people drunk etc."
Another resident who didn't want to be named lives nearby and saw the fire unfold. "We were upstairs at about 11.30 and we heard a big bang," she said. "We went out and the whole car was up in flames. Everyone came out, the whole street was out. People were going straight back to their houses then and closing their doors and windows.
They added: "We called the fire brigade about 11.50pm and they were there within a few minutes to be fair. The hedges and the bin are quite damaged so that will have to be sorted."
Geoff Waites was at home last night when he became aware of the fire. "We didn't see it but we smelled something really bad at about midnight," he said. "I think the fire brigade might have been there by then already.
"My wife saw flashing blue lights which was probably them. It is completely burnt out. I've been here 20 years and I've never seen anything like that here. We've had maybe one incident but it is very unusual."
Another resident who didn't want to be named said: "We live around the corner and saw the fire last night. It was about half past 11 or maybe midnight. The car was up in flames, they were really big.
"The fire brigade came quite quickly then. It's very close to the hedges near the houses, I was fearing for them."
A South Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "At approximately 11.51pm on Thursday July 21, we received reports of a vehicle fire on Victoria Park Road East, Cardiff. Crews from Ely attended the scene to extinguish the fire which is suspected as deliberate. A stop message was received at approximately 12:19am."
South Wales Police said it had not received any reports of the incident. For all the latest Cardiff news straight to your inbox, sign up for our CardiffOnline newsletter here.
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