Image: Hailey VanBasten / In this picture shared by Chilliwack resident Hailey VanBasten, a four-door passenger sedan was completely engulfed in flames early Sunday, January 7 on Chilliwack Lake Road in close proximity to Thurston Meadows campground. VanBasten tells Fraser Valley Today she witnessed the fire at 1:12 a.m. early Sunday.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Suspicious fire Sunday in Chilliwack

Updated: Witness believes car that burned Sunday on Chilliwack Lake Road was stolen

Jan 8, 2024 | 7:27 AM

CHILLIWACK — The Chilliwack River Valley Fire Department was dispatched for what appears to be a suspicious fire that engulfed a passenger sedan vehicle in the early morning hours of Sunday, January 7 in rural Chilliwack.

Chilliwack resident Hailey VanBasten tells Fraser Valley Today that she discovered a vehicle fire on Chilliwack Lake Road near Thurston Meadows campground early Sunday, Jan. 7 at approximately 1:12 a.m. There is sporadic cell phone coverage at Thurston Meadows, located at approximately 53001 Chilliwack Lake Road and several kilometres east of the Tamihi Creek campground.

Image: Hailey VanBasten / A car on fire early Sunday on Chilliwack Lake Road near Thurston Meadows.

VanBasten says she was able to contact 9-1-1 emergency dispatch by 1:24 a.m., roughly 12 minutes after she first witnessed the fire, and responding firefighters were able to arrive on scene quickly, VanBasten says.

Images shared by VanBasten show a passenger vehicle, possibly resembling a four-door Tesla, completely engulfed in flames. The tires and rims appear to have been stripped from the vehicle, or were burned as a result of the fire.

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Van Basten says the Tesla-looking vehicle that burned was stolen from her uncle’s upstairs neighbour.