Fire from a torched stolen vehicle dumped at Coquitlam River Park was quickly contained over the weekend but Port Coquitlam fire chief Nick Delmonico said it could have been much worse.
Flames from the car reached several trees in the area before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze shortly after midnight on Sunday morning.
"Car fires can be dangerous in the sense that they have things in them that can explode," he said. "They are fairly dangerous."
Investigators believe the fire was deliberately set and the vehicle was likely stolen. Delmonico told The Tri-City News that the scene, which was located at Shaughnessy Street and Lincoln Avenue, was left in the care of the RCMP, who will handle the investigation.