A resident living near the intersection of O'Dell and Brown streets rushed to the scene of a motor vehicle fire at about 4am this morning when she heard what she thought were explosions.
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"I think I was awake already. Then I heard popping sounds that I actually thought sounded like a gun which was also alarming," Karin said.
"I looked out the window and could see there were flames, but I couldn't see what was burning. It was quite large, so I called the fire department right away and emergency services.
"And then I thought I'd better go and take a look in case it was near a house or threatening, or burning a house because I knew the fire brigade hadn't arrived yet."
Karin said she walked far enough down the road to be able to see what was happening.
"I could see that it was a car on fire and that no-one was in danger," she said.
"But it was quite a spectacular fire.
"I saw no-one around the car. If it was deliberately lit they would have been long gone by then, or at least far enough away not to be linked to it."
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She said there were continual "popping" sounds, like explosions.
"From the petrol, I think," Karin said.
"I've seen cars burnt in the creek lands, but I have never seen one burnt next to residential houses before and that was very concerning.
"Luckily it wasn't a house fire because I've seen houses go up in about 10 to 15 minutes."
Karin said she had not been spoken to by police or the emergency services.
Officers from Armidale police were called to the scene about 4am. They are treating the fire as suspicious and investigations are ongoing.
