Brantford, Ont., resident Irfan Walji said he woke up to a call from his neighbour in the middle of the night in June.
Walji was told his car was on fire in the driveway and his family needed to get out of their house.
As the family fled the home and waited for emergency medical services, the fire spread to the second car and the garage, he said. Fortunately, they didn’t lose the house.
Walji said he worked with his insurance company and is going through the stressful process of renovating and rebuilding. The father of two noted that while insurance covered much of the loss, the family was impacted in other ways. For example, his five-year-old daughter won’t sleep alone and continues to bring up the June 15 fire.
For nearly five months, Walji said, he has tried to find out what happened out of fear someone else’s car could catch fire unexpectedly. He said it has been a frustrating experience that has left him with theories and questions, but no answers.
Walji says his youngest child hasn’t slept alone since the fire at their home. (Submitted by Irfan Walji)
Walji said he purchased his 2023 Hyundai Kona N new at a dealership in Brantford and only serviced it there. He wasn’t aware of any recalls, and it had been serviced as recently as June 1 to replace the knock sensor.
Brantford Fire told CBC Hamilton it responded to the blaze in question and said it doesn’t typically investigate car fires. Walji said the police also didn’t investigate — Brantford Police Service said the fire “was deemed to not be suspicious.”
Walji said he reported the fire to Transport Canada in June and shared information with an investigator who followed up. He said he has contacted the department for more information since then, but hasn’t heard anything more, leaving him frustrated.
Walji said he also tried to contact his MP’s office to see if they could speed things along, but didn’t receive a response.
Larry Brock, MP for Brantford—Brant South, resigned in September and a byelection for his replacement isn’t set until Dec. 7.
Firefighters put out the fire in Walji’s driveway after the Brantford resident and his family woke up to a neighbour’s call, warning them about it. CBC News blurred the one vehicle’s licence plate. (Submitted by Irfan Walji)
Cause of car fires hard to determine: Transport Canada
Transport Canada continues to assess Walji’s case, spokesperson Sau Sau Liu said in an email.
“Once the assessment is complete, a report of findings will be prepared and reviewed internally before the results are shared with the vehicle owner,” Liu said.
Liu said determining the cause of a vehicle fire is challenging because it can destroy evidence.
Vehicle fires can result from factors including arson, poor maintenance, mechanical or electrical failures, and, in rare cases, a potential safety-related defect,” she said.
Hyundai Auto Canada told CBC it is aware of Walji’s case.
Hyundai says it lacks sufficient info to determine cause
In a statement from spokesperson Frederic Mercier, the company said it “has reviewed the information currently available to us, but such information is not sufficient to determine a cause for the incident.”
“While we assisted Transport Canada in its review of this matter, we have not been contacted by the customer’s insurer or had access to the vehicle to conduct our own investigation,” Mercier said. “Hyundai Auto Canada looks forward to conducting a joint investigation with the insurer if it is provided with the opportunity to do so.”
Walji said his insurance provider, TD Insurance, told him it would investigate for the purpose of deciding whether the insurer should seek compensation from the dealership or the manufacturer. He said he understands the results of any such investigation won’t be shared with him.
CBC Hamilton asked TD Insurance to confirm whether it is investigating and whether the results of its own investigation will be kept internally. CBC also asked if the insurer might conduct a joint investigation with Hyundai.
“As part of the claims process, TD Insurance may investigate a loss to determine whether another party may be responsible,” spokesperson Megan Sampson said in an email. “Each claim is different, and the nature of any investigation depends on the circumstances and information available. We understand clients may have questions throughout the claims process, and we remain committed to working with them to address their concerns and provide clarity where we can.”
Walji said he has researched fire-related recalls from Hyundai in Canada and the United States, as well as other vehicle fires, trying to identify similarities to his case.
In 2023, for example, Hyundai recalled more than 320,000 vehicles in Canada linked to a potential fault in the anti-lock braking system that could cause a fire.
Transport Canada said it hasn’t identified a complaint trend of similar fire events involving Hyundai Kona N vehicles like the kind Walji owned.
Walji reached out to CBC after seeing a September article about a Hyundai Santa Fe that caught fire on Highway 401 in Toronto.
At the time, Murray Thomson, a combustion specialist and professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Toronto, told CBC that fires occur in about one in 2,500 cars in Canada.
Data that Transport Canada shared with CBC shows that between Jan 1, 2016, and Nov. 3, 2026, there were 1,150 reported vehicle fires.
Of those, 169 occurred in Hyundai vehicles. Ford was the only manufacturer whose vehicles experienced more reported fires, with 176 reports to Transport Canada.
CBC Hamilton asked Hyundai to comment on being the automaker with the second-highest number of car fires reported to Transport Canada, and whether it tracks and follows up on vehicle fires. The company didn’t give a direct answer, saying only that “safety is Hyundai’s highest priority, and we take reports of potential safety-related incidents involving our vehicles very seriously.”
Overall, when it comes to fire investigations, “there needs to be a bit more transparency,” Walji said.
He said he understands the investigations are complicated but says without answers, “we’re not able to move forward.”