A group of friends were startled awake by the sound of a "car explosion" outside their home in the early hours.
Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service were called to the scene of the fire on Langton Road in Wavertree shortly after 5am on Saturday, February 26, after a van became engulfed in flames.
Students James Mckenna, Ben Hesketh and Sean Mckenna, who live near the scene, said the force of the explosion caused their entire home to shake.
READ MORE: 'Huge fight' breaks out in city centre as police swarm street
A video shared with the ECHO shows fire fighters at the scene of the blaze, which they managed to extinguish shortly afterwards.
James, 22, said he was "half asleep" at the time of the incident, and recalls hearing arguing and what sounded like a series of small bangs coming from outside.
James told the ECHO: "I just saw this white flash on the window and I felt this shock wave from where it was and I was like 'what was that?' The whole house shook. I really felt it.
"I went downstairs to check if the house was on fire. I looked outside the window and I saw loads of smoke and a fire engine - they came very quickly.
"We're all a bit shaken up from it because we were like 'what caused the car to explode?' 'How did they explode the car?'"
Ben said the van was "burnt to a crisp" following the fire with just an empty shell of the vehicle remaining.
A spokesperson from the fire service said: "Merseyside Fire & Rescue Service attended an incident on Langton Road, Liverpool this morning, Saturday 26 th February.
"Crews were alerted at 5.06am and were on scene shortly after. Two fire engines attended.
"On arrival, firefighters were met with one van well alight and quickly utilised two high pressure hose reel jets to extinguish the blaze shortly after.
"The incident was handed over to Merseyside Police."
Merseyside Police were approached for comment.
