A woman had a lucky escape after her car caught fire just before midday on Wednesday, December 5.
The owner of the car was on Steere Street, North when she attempted to try and start her vehicle twice before smoke started pouring out from underneath the car bonnet before catching on fire.
The owner of the Audi Q7 2008 model Jo Lyle recently moved to Collie from the Gold Coast earlier this week and had only had the car for five weeks.
“I was in the car and I tried turning it on once and it wouldn’t start and so I tried turning it on again before smoke started to pour out from underneath the bonnet,” Ms Lyle said.
Bystander Rachael Harms was shopping in a nearby store when she heard a scream outside.
She saw the car was on fire and instantly reacted, she raced into the Taree store grabbing the shop’s fire extinguisher before running back outside to put the fire out.
Local police and Collie Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service arrived at the scene shortly after to manage traffic and to tend to the vehicle.
Collie Volunteer Fire and Rescue Service acting captain Pusky Crescenzi said they believe the car had an electrical fault.
“A call was made through triple zero and when we arrived it had already been put out which was lucky,” he said.
The battery in Ms Lyle’s car was disconnected before her car was then towed away.