TORONTO — Police have confirmed that the Jeep involved in the fatal collision in Vaughan that killed three children and their grandfather caught fire while in police custody Monday night.
York Regional Police said the front grill of the Jeep, which was seized for evidence, ignited at police headquarters after an electrical fire at about 6 p.m.
Firefighters responded to the fire at police headquarters at 47 Don Hillock Drive in Aurora, Ont.
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Police said the fire was quickly extinguished and the “integrity of the evidence was not compromised.”
On Sunday a vehicle carrying six people — three adults and three children under the age of 10 — was struck by another vehicle at the intersection of Kipling Avenue and Kirby Road at approximately 4:10 p.m ET northeast of Kleinburg in Vaughan.
Daniel Neville-Lake, nine, his five-year-old brother Harrison, and their little sister Milly, two, all died after their minivan was struck in the incident.
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The children’s 65-year-old grandfather, identified as Gary Neville, died at the scene and two other women were rushed to hospital with serious injuries. Both remain in stable condition and are expected to survive.
The women have been identified as the children’s grandmother and great-grandmother.
Jennifer Neville-Lake, the mother of three children killed, said Tuesday she was grateful for the “outpouring of love across the globe.”
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An online fundraising campaign set up for the family has since raised over $200,000.
Marco Muzzo, 29, of King Township, has been charged with a dozen impaired-driving offences in connection with the collision and appeared briefly in court on Monday.
A source close to the suspect said the collision occurred about two hours after Muzzo and his close friends reportedly landed back in Toronto following a bachelor party celebration in Las Vegas.
With files from Caryn Lieberman
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