NEWTON — Residents of an otherwise quiet street in Newton suddenly have something to chat about over the fence for years to come after a couple of spectacular fiery events shook their neighbourhood early Wednesday morning.
At the Now's press time, police suspected an arsonist had torched a house in the 7900-block of 134th Street, caught himself on fire, and then jumped into a getaway SUV that also burst into flames. The SUV crashed about a half-block south, at the intersection of 79th Avenue and 134th Street.
Four people were seen running away. This was at about 1:45 a.m.
The SUV fire lit Gurjeet Hothi's white picket fence on fire. She was asleep inside her rancher at the time.
"It's very scary to live in here," she told the Now later Wednesday morning. "It's very scary in Surrey these days. You never know."
Her neighbour - Mrs. Mann - lives across the street.
"My dog was barking - the flames were so high. We just saw the flames," she said.
Howard Dallas also lives across the street.
"I thought it was shotgun bangs," he said. "Pow, like a transformer pole."
Police cordoned off the burned house and at press time were looking for suspects.
“At this point it is believed the two fire scenes are related and that the house fire was intentionally set,†said Surrey RCMP Cpl. Scotty Schumann.
People inside the burning house escaped without injury but police were monitoring local hospitals as “the suspects may have inadvertently burned themselves whilst setting the fire.â€