Police and a fire crew from Masterton Fire Station were called to a car fire on Kaiparoro Rd on at 11pm Friday.
“Upon arrival, the fire was well involved, and it took us about 25 minutes to extinguish,” Masterton Fire Station’s Richard King said.
“We arrived with one appliance and a tanker and extinguished the fire using water.”
Wairarapa Police area prevention manager Gill Flower said the blaze is being treated as suspicious.
“The car was stolen from Eketāhuna on Friday and later located bunt out on Kaiparoro Rd under the bridge on the bank of the Ruamahanga river,” Flower said.
“No car sets itself on fire, and so we are treating this as suspicious.
“It appears the person who stole it didn’t want to leave any forensics; our Police Safety Team is currently investigating it.
“The vehicle’s owner was advised, and he did not want police to tow it.”
When asked about the risk of a burning car exploding, King said that movie pyrotechnics have created a misconception that the danger is greater than it generally is.
“There is not too much risk; the loud bangs are either the petrol tank rupturing or the tyres blowing,” King said.
