A victim of a deliberate fire attack in Glasgow has told how they heard loud explosions before the flames took just minutes to spread to nearby parked cars.
Two huge blazes broke out in Pollokshields on Tuesday morning as fire crews scrambled to the scene at around 2.35am.
Pictures showed massive black smoke clouds billow from Maxwell Road area leaving neighbours shocked.
Police confirmed they believe the fires to be 'wilful' and are probing the incident.
One vehicle is believed to have been set alight on Herriet Street before the fire spread to a car parked behind it.
And another vehicle was then said to have been torched on nearby Maxwell Road, before that blaze spread to two other vehicles parked behind.
In total five cars were destroyed by the pair of fires.
One resident of Maxwell Road, whose father-in-law's car was parked behind the one which torched on the street, told the Record: "It was very unlucky but we're just glad no one was hurt.
"The Volkswagen Golf was set ablaze. We heard a loud bang like someone had smashed something. We didn’t see anyone but it didn’t click because we thought someone was just banging the door or something.
"But then when the light started coming up we all ran and we saw this car was ablaze.
"I don’t know what they used but within a matter of two, three minutes it just spread to the two cars behind.
"The wind was blowing that way, so my father-in-law's car quickly set alight.
"It was very unlucky but we are lucky that the wind wasn't blowing towards the flat, because if the windows caught it the whole building could have gone up.
"We have young kids and that could have been another Grenfell type situation.
"We could feel the heat from our bedroom, we had to take a step back.
"My father-in-law tried to come down to open the door but he couldn't open it because the heat was so intense. He wanted to move the car but it was too late and too hot, it would have been a wrong move to come and move the car."
Another neighbour told how they called the fire brigade to raise the alarm about the blaze on Maxwell Road - and they were surprised to hear there was two separate blazes going on at once.
They said: "It all started at 2.30am in the morning and the fire brigade were here really quickly. God bless the fire brigade how quick they turned up.
"The other two cars were called first, then the fire brigade were like, 'hold on a minute, there's another fire?'
"I told them it was a second fire. Three cars were destroyed here, and two there.
"There was a white car that had a lucky escape, it was about to go up but the fire brigade prioritised that.
"The key thing is there were no injuries."
A third neighbour explained: "I saw it all out my window. It was really scary, there was explosions and everything. The first thing that caught my eye was I heard a little pop.
"Things were popping then the fire got really high, you could feel the intensity of the heat."
Another said: "I woke up to a loud explosion. I heard the bang and went to the bathroom and could see the sirens flashing and the flames. I thought it was the building that was on fire so I thought we would maybe have to get evacuated and everything.
"I thought I better get out and you could just see smoke filling the street. Thankfully no one was hurt."
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 2.35am on Tuesday, 17 August, officers received a report of five cars on fire in the Herriet Street and Maxwell Road area of Glasgow.
"A joint investigation with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is now underway and the fires are believed to be wilful.
"Enquiries are ongoing.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We were alerted at 2.36am on Tuesday, August 17 to reports of a car on fire at Herriet Street, Glasgow.
“Operations Control mobilised two appliances and firefighters extinguished a fire affecting five vehicles.
“There were no reported casualties and crews left after ensuring the area was made safe.”
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