Car explodes and burns in Costco parking lot
Henry and Linda Whalen narrowly avoided disaster Wednesday afternoon in St. John’s when their Hyundai Tucson caught fire in the Costco parking lot.
Henry said he noticed a red light on his dashboard Tuesday night, but it quickly disappeared, only to appear again briefly on Wednesday morning.
As he and his wife, both seniors, were making their way past the former Target store heading to the Costco gas pumps, Henry noticed what he thought was steam coming from under the hood of the vehicle.
Sensing something was amiss, he turned away from the gas pumps and into the parking area, when the smoke thickened. By the time he stopped, black smoke was billowing out from under the hood and flames took over the vehicle almost as soon as the couple from Southlands got out of the vehicle.
The St. John’s Regional Fire Department was first on the scene, followed by the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary. Firefighters had the blaze under control in short order.
There were no injuries, but a vehicle parked nearby suffered some minor damage as firefighters worked quickly to extinguish the burning vehicle.
A concerned shopper at Costco went inside to pull the fire alarm, prompting the retailer to follow protocol and evacuate customers and staff to a nearby muster station.
It happened shortly after 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. The incident caused a stir inside.
Outside, she saw a car in flames near the main entrance.
The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary confirmed no one was injured, and the damages were mostly isolated to the burned vehicle.