Car destroyed in Sunday-morning fire outside St. John’s Police Station, but both occupants escape serious injury

Two people avoided serious injury in a traffic accident that occurred in the heart of the city, after 5 a.m., on Sunday, February 27.

Reports say the pair were travelling in a white Chevrolet car when the driver lost control of the vehicle.  It crashed into a traffic-light pole on Newgate Street, just across from the St. John’s Police Station.

The impact broke the pole in two, and the vehicle, according to reports, then burst into flames.

It is not known whether the car was traveling up Newgate Street or across Market Street.  But it ended up facing south on a road that runs east to west, and mere feet away from a wooden building owned by the Shoul family.

The Emergency Medical Service (EMS) was called to the scene and transported both persons to the hospital, where they are nursing minor injuries.

Videos and photos of the incident have been in wide circulation.  The footage shows the front portion of the two-door vehicle badly damaged, with the engine burnt to a crisp and only the metal frames of the seats remaining.  Even the steering wheel was consumed and

the tyres melted by the fire.

It is not yet known what triggered the collision.  But, because the car burst into flames, it suggests a hard impact, some persons say; and they are speculating that the accident was caused by speeding.

If this is the case, one woman is asking how practical it is for someone to speed in such a limited space downtown.

Police are investigating the incident.

Meanwhile, another video, reportedly of the same vehicle, has surfaced.  It shows what appears to be the driver – a young man –revving the engine and “burning” the tyres until clouds of smoke emanated from the rubber.