Hyundai bursts into flames after routine servicing

The bang and the flash came out of nowhere as Mike Tennant manoeuvred his 2015 Hyundai Sonata into his driveway.

"A large flame came up over the hood and I jumped out of the car and ran to the door and said, 'Patty, my car is on fire!' I was shaking so bad I couldn't dial 911," he said. 

It had only been about 15 minutes since the Cambridge, Ont., man picked up his car from the dealership after servicing.

His wife, Patty Atwell Tennant, called the fire department and started filming on her phone as the fire spread and engulfed the car.

Tennant says the images of his futile fight to bring the blaze under control — starting with a fire extinguisher, then a garden hose — are seared into his memory.

"I had nightmares that would wake me up with the panic of what we went through, seeing the fire, the potential of what could have happened," he said.

Atwell Tennant adds: "I was afraid for my family at that point."

The fire department responded quickly and prevented the blaze from spreading or injuring anyone. But Tennant's top-of-the-line Sonata — a 50th birthday present to himself, which cost some $40,000 — was a write-off. 

A charred scar on the Tennants' driveway was the only remaining sign of the drama that had unfolded metres from their home.

Well over a year after the fire, there is still no official cause and no agreement about who is responsible. 

Tennant took his car, which he says was well maintained, in for routine servicing on Nov. 9, 2021. He picked it up later that day. 

Go Public asked two experts if the cause of the fire might be related to the service, showing them videos of the burning car, plus the service records detailing the work done at the dealership that day.

Eli Melnick — an electrical engineer, licensed mechanic and forensic investigator — says the fire has all the hallmarks of being fuelled by some kind of accelerant.

"I would say that gasoline is probably the most likely fuel that fed the fire in this case, judging by the intensity and height of the flames," Melnick said.