KENTVILLE, N.S. — The cause of a fire that randomly broke out in an older Hyundai Elantra parked at Valley Regional Hospital Friday remains to be seen.
The fire was reported shortly before 11 a.m.
Scott Hamilton, a deputy chief with the Kentville Volunteer Fire Department, said initial reports indicated that the unoccupied vehicle attempted to start on its own.
“Where the car was located on our arrival it had actually moved out of the parking spot that it was in,” he said, noting that a volunteer firefighter who was nearby when the call came in rushed out to the parking lot and pushed the car back away from other parked vehicles.
“There was only one other vehicle next to it that sustained some damage. In a busy parking lot like that we were fortunate that the damage was isolated to only one other vehicle beside the one that was involved.”
No one was injured as a result of the fire, Hamilton said.
He said he is aware of media reports regarding recalls and engine issues that allegedly resulted in car fires in various Hyundai vehicles in Canada, but he did not jump to any conclusions with the older model Elantra that caught fire in the parking lot of the Kentville-based hospital.
“We didn’t do an investigation on the fire, so that will be handled by the owner’s insurance company,” said Hamilton.
