Man refused to leave smashed car until it burst into flames

A driver lost control of his vehicle and smashed into two parked cars before it burst into flames last night in Melbourne’s south-east.

Residents on Heany street in Mount Waverley heard a loud smash at about 9.40pm and came out to see a man in his 70s sitting in a Holden Commodore.

The man refused to exit the vehicle until it erupted in flames, and when he did, onlookers say his first move was to light a cigarette.

One resident, who would not be identified, said he had been about to go to bed when he heard what sounded like “someone crashing a car and trying to drive off”.

“We came out and he had just smashed into a car and was spinning the wheels… he didn’t get out and just kept going and going until it caught fire,” he said.

Paramedics took the man to Monash Medical Centre in a stable condition with no obvious injuries.