Brantford, Ont., man seeks answers after car catches fire in family home's driveway

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A Brantford, Ont., resident wants to know why his family's car caught fire in their driveway so he can raise awareness to other people about how to prevent it from happening to them. Unfortunately, he says, answers are hard to come by.

Brantford, Ont., resident Irfan Walji said he woke up to a call from his neighbour in the middle of the night in June.

Walji was told his car was on fire in the driveway and his family needed to get out of their house.

As the family fled the home and waited for emergency medical services, the fire spread to the second car and the garage, he said. Fortunately, they didn't lose the house.

Walji said he worked with his insurance company and is going through the stressful process of renovating and rebuilding. The father of two noted that while insurance covered much of the loss, the family was impacted in other ways. For example, his five-year-old daughter won’t sleep alone and continues to bring up the June 15 fire.

For nearly five months, Walji said, he has tried to find out what happened out of fear someone else's car could catch fire unexpectedly. He said it has been a frustrating experience that has left him with theories and questions, but no answers.

Walji says his youngest child hasn't slept alone since the fire at their home. (Submitted by Irfan Walji)

Walji said he purchased his 2023 Hyundai Kona N new at a dealership in Brantford and only serviced it there. He wasn't aware of any recalls, and it had been serviced as recently as June 1 to replace the knock sensor.

Brantford Fire told CBC Hamilton it responded to the blaze in question and said it doesn't typically investigate car fires. Walji said the police also didn't investigate — Brantford Police Service said the fire "was deemed to not be suspicious."

Walji said he reported the fire to Transport Canada in June and shared information with an investigator who followed up. He said he has contacted the department for more information since then, but hasn't heard anything more, leaving him frustrated.

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