FIRE DESTROYS TWO VEHICLES, DAMAGES TWO OTHERS

(July 7th)

Two vehicles were destroyed and two others were damaged following an early-morning fire in downtown St. John’s.

At approximately 1:10 a.m. on Tuesday (July 7), the St. John’s Regional Fire Department (SJRFD) was alerted to a vehicle fire in a parking lot on Patrick Street, just south of Hamilton Avenue.

The fire initially engulfed a pickup truck before spreading to a nearby SUV. Flames also extended to a nearby camper and a second SUV, causing heat damage to both the camper and the second SUV.

Firefighters from the West-End Fire Station responded to the scene and arrived to find an intense blaze. During the fire, numerous explosion-like sounds were heard. Those sounds can be caused by a variety of factors, including tires bursting, components within a vehicle failing due to extreme heat, or potentially a propane tank if one had been attached to the camper. However, it is unknown whether a propane tank was present.

Fire crews quickly deployed an attack line and made a relatively fast knockdown of the fire. Due to the size and intensity of the blaze, firefighters returned to a nearby hydrant to refill their apparatus with water before continuing suppression efforts and extinguishing remaining hotspots to prevent the fire from reigniting.

The pickup truck and SUV were completely destroyed by the fire. Another vehicle and the attached camper sustained heat damage. There were no injuries.