Burnaby couple finds unfamiliar car burning in driveway
Janet and Don Hayes were jolted out of bed around 2 a.m. by an explosion outside
An elderly couple in Burnaby, B.C., was awoken early Wednesday morning by an explosion from a stolen car going up in flames in their driveway.
Janet Hayes said she heard the car drive down Hillview Street to her house at the end of the dead-end road. She heard voices and then what she described as a loud explosion.
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"I thought they had hit the house, I thought a car had hit the house, that big of a bang," Hayes said.
She and her husband, Don — both in their 70s — got out of bed to find a sedan engulfed in flames in their driveway.
Next door neighbour Arthur Yorko said he was awoken by the explosion.
"I was sleeping and I thought someone slammed my front door," said Yorko. "I saw flames and I saw Don grabbing his hose. I grabbed my hose and tried to put a little water on it. That's all we could do."
Hayes said the flames were getting dangerously close to trees and bushes in the front yard, but she was more concerned about her husband's safety.
"I said, 'Let it burn.' I was worried about my husband getting too close. He's got the hose on it, I said 'Let it burn,'" she said.
Nobody saw anyone flee from the area, and police don't have any suspects.
The car was reported stolen in Vancouver, according to police, so both Burnaby RCMP and the Vancouver Police Department will investigate the incident.
"It was a little more excitement than I would want in the middle of the night," said Hayes
