Walsall family 'on edge' after suspected arson attack on car outside their home
A family have been left "on edge" after waking up to find their car on fire in the middle of the night.
CCTV footage of the incident, shot from a neighbouring home, shows two hooded people lingering around the property, on Yale Road, Willenhall, at around 3am on Sunday.
The pair then proceed to pour flammable liquid onto the Black Ford Ranger Wildtrak, which was parked on the driveway, and set it alight. Video from the scene showed the truck ablaze, with explosions ringing out as the tyres burst.
Emergency services were called to the scene, with West Midlands Fire Service crews from Walsall and Bilston working to extinguish the blaze.
A family, including a mother and her two children, aged 12 and 18, were sleeping in the house when the car was torched.
The sister of the mother, who lives nearby, said: "It was around 2:58am when I heard my sister scream, when I looked out the window I saw the car on fire, and my sister was at the front door.
"We were trying to find the key to the car, as we didn’t realise it was that bad at that time.
"Then I rang 999 and I think somebody else had as well, at that time there were two loud bangs, we think it might have been the fire reaching the tyres.
"The flames were then reaching the window of the house, and all the neighbours were coming out to see what was going on.
"I can’t get my head around it, the family are shaken and the kids are on edge.
"It feels like a lucky escape, as if people didn’t wake up, the fire could've got into the house."
Both West Midlands Fire Service and West Midlands Police stated the fire is believed to have been started deliberately.
A spokesperson for West Midlands Fire Service said: "Just after 3am on Sunday, November 6, fire crews from Walsall and Bilston responded to a car on fire on the drive of a house in Yale Road, Willenhall.
"The fire, which is believed to have been started deliberately, was extinguished with a hose reel jet by firefighters wearing breathing apparatus.
"Some damage was caused to plastic fascia material on the property."
A West Midlands Police spokesperson added: "We're investigating after a car caught fire during a suspected arson attack in Yale Road, Willenhall, on Sunday morning.
"Anyone with information can contact us via Live Chat on our website and quote 20/808664/22."
