Woman 'traumatised' after car bursts into flames

A woman has been left “traumatised” when her car burst into flames at a roundabout.

Rhian Graham, 70, from Old Colwyn, was driving in St Asaph when she saw smoke coming from under the bonnet.

She was alerted by two passers-by to get out of the car, and within minutes the front of her Vauxhall Crossland was a sheet of flames.

Vauxhall said there was no known problem with that model.

Ms Graham was driving to music rehearsal on 27 April when the incident happened.

She’d stopped at the bottom of a slip road off the A55 to wait for a gap in the traffic when she suddenly noticed “wisps of smoke” coming from under the bonnet.

“But then two men came running over, trying to attract my attention and telling me to get out as quickly as possible”, she said.

Ms Graham quickly exited the car and when she turned back she was shocked to see her car on fire.

“As I looked back at the car, I saw flames coming out, and within a minute they’d engulfed the whole front of the vehicle, shooting higher than the roof.”

Rhian Graham said the experience was made worse by loud bangs as tyres and windscreen exploded.

Firefighters arrived quickly and put out the flames before they spread to the back of the car.

However the heat from the fire had melted the front end of the car and left parts of it stuck to the tarmac.

“The whole experience has traumatised me”, Rhian Graham added.

“It was lucky that I was stopped, and the two men saw the fire in time.

“My daughter is 27 and has Downs Syndrome - I keep getting flashbacks of what would have happened if the flames had appeared when I was driving down the motorway, and she was in the car with me.”

Firefighters at the scene said it was difficult to immediately know what caused the fire as the front of the petrol-engined car was so badly damaged.

Ms Graham bought the car new in July 2022 – less than two years ago – and says the manufacturer, Vauxhall, should now investigate.

Vauxhall said its customer relations team had received no contact from the vehicle owner.

A spokesperson added: "There are no such known issues with this model and we would welcome contact from the customer to discuss their situation with them directly."