Emergency crews douse early morning car fire, driver 'stunting'

Emergency crews had to respond to a car that caught fire at the intersection of Ellis St. and Harvey Ave. in downtown Kelowna in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Eyewitness Ahmed Al Masud tells Castanet he heard a loud explosion and when he arrived at the intersection, the vehicle was on fire and emergency crews had just arrived on the scene.

“I heard an explosion but I did not see any other vehicles,” Masud says.

The RCMP tells Castanet the vehicle caught fire after a young driver/owner was "stunting," including spinning tires and doing doughnuts.

“The driver was issued several violation tickets under the Motor Vehicle Act and I guess (he) will need to explain to ICBC why his car is now a write-off,” says RCMP spokesperson Const. Mike Della-Paolera.

The initial report indicated a pedestrian was struck at the intersection, however, “when police identified the person they completely denied they had been hit and there were no injuries. The ‘friends’ of the driver were uncooperative with police during this investigation,” states Cst. Della-Paolera.