A Scottish couple have spoken of their horror after they saw their newly purchased car engulfed in flames whilst scrolling through Facebook.
Craig and Natalie Mason, who bought a black Ford Fiesta, say that it was parked outside of Natalie’s business, Beauty Mechanic, when a nearby fire made it burst into flames on Wednesday October 12. Craig, 40, said that he only found out that the car had been caught up in the inferno after spotting footage on social media.
He said: "The car was parked in the car park across from my wife's shop, which is about 10 minutes away from our house. I just happened to be having a look on Facebook when I scrolled past a video of a fire and read a comment saying it was in Kinglassie.
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"When I watched the video I recognised the pickup truck and knew it was near our car. I rushed through to see what was happening.".
A large vehicle that was parked close to their car on Lochty Avenue, Fife, was understood to have been set alight on purpose at around 10:15pm. Fuel is believed to have escaped from the burning pick-up truck and caused the fire that destroyed the couple’s car, the Daily Record reports.
Officers are treating the fire as ‘wilful. ’ Craig has said that the motor, which they bought just last month as a present for his wife to use for her work, was very badly damaged.
He added: "I'm so annoyed and angry that this has happened. People work so hard for things and then one person can take it away in seconds. It's really disappointing. I had bought the car for my wife for her shop which she was going to use to promote her business, but she hadn't even had the chance to do this yet."
Both the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Police Scotland responded to the incident. Speaking about the incident, Craig said: "It was parked about a car width away from the pickup but because it's on a hill the fuel ran out of the truck, ran down the hill, caught fire and then went under our car.
"I actually watched a video of it happening online. In one video the car is fine and then in the next minute it's up in flames."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 10.15pm on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, officers were called to a report of a van and car on fire on Lochty Avenue, Kinglassie. It is being treated as wilful and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "At 9.41pm on Wednesday, 12 October Operation Control mobilised one appliance to Lochty Avenue, Kinglassie to extinguish a fire affecting a van and car.
"Crews worked to make the area safe before leaving. There were no reported casualties."
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