Horrifying moment electric car suddenly bursts into flames on driveway - starting raging blaze that spread to van and £550,000 family home
The shocking images show a fireball tearing through vehicles outside the £550,000 house in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, in the early hours of this morning.
The car was parked on the driveway and was charging overnight when it caught fire at around 5am.
Photographs taken after the blaze reveal the shocking extent of the damage, including the wreckage of three vehicles - one of which is a van. The front of the house was also badly burned.
Aside from the van, all the vehicles on the drive have been reduced to charred remains - but it is unclear what type of vehicles they are.
The home on a quiet road belongs to a young family, according to neighbours.
Thankfully, the family were able to get out safely and no casualties have been reported.
One neighbour said: 'I was probably the last to hear about it on the block. The fire was going when I got up, and the house was beginning to catch.
The car was parked on the driveway and was charging overnight when it caught fire at around 5am
'Flames were coming out the door and window. I was frightened for the young family.'
A spokesperson for Hampshire Fire and Rescue said crews from three different fire stations attended the scene.
They said: 'Firefighters tackled a fire involving a number of vehicles which spread to a house on Charlecote Drive in Chandler's Ford this morning.
'Crews from Eastleigh, Redbridge and St Mary's were alerted shortly before 5am when multiple 999 calls were made into the control room reporting the blaze.
'Wearing breathing apparatus firefighters entered the property to extinguish the fire using hose reels and jets.
'Fortunately, there were no casualties involved.
'The electricity, gas and water supply to the building was isolated before the incident was handed over to Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary officers.'
It's not the first time an electric vehicle has caught fire in the middle of the night.
In January a Worcester mother told how her vehicle burst into flames on the family's driveway while she and her children were asleep.
She said: 'I was asleep, all the kids were asleep and I just heard a massive bang.
'At first I thought the television had fallen off the wall but when I looked outside I saw the reflection of the flames in our neighbour's windows.
'I was in shock.
'I'm traumatised, the kids are traumatised. I grabbed my three children and the dog and rushed out of the house as quickly as I could.
'It was an electric Peugeot with a 24 reg that I bought in May, the fire was that bad that you can't even tell anymore.
'It now looks like an old racing car that has been abandoned.'
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