Restaurant suffers damage after ute catches fire
THE exact cause of a fire that started from under the bonnet of a Ford Ranger ute parked on Abbott St, Cairns, remains unknown.
Firefighters rushed to the burning vehicle after emergency crews received reports of smoke billowing from the Ranger about 6.45pm yesterday.
Queensland Fire and Rescue inspector Stephen Tognolini said the cause had not been determined.
“It does not appear that a fire investigator is allocated to that job,” he said.
Owner Josh Edwards said he had recently relocated to Melbourne and had driven the two-year-old vehicle up from Victoria to spend Christmas with family.
“My girlfriend came in and told me about the fire,” Mr Edwards said.
“There is nothing I can do. Insurance will cover it. I guess.”
Ford has issued an urgent warning for all owners of Ford Rangers built since July 2016 Merry Christmas Happy New Year to not drive over long grass after a number of cars caught fire or began to smoulder.
The recall affects about 52,000 Ford Rangers built since July 2016.
Night Markets worker Myung Sun Kim only heard about damage to his car after crews had extinguished the fire.
The left side of his white Land Rover received fire and heat damage from the blaze.
The footpath, roof and front of Nando’s restaurant also was damaged by smoke from the blaze.