MILWAUKEE — A neighbor's doorbell camera captured the moment a person set a car on fire just after 1 a.m. Thursday on Milwaukee's east side, near East Belleview and North Oakland.
The video shows a flare, followed by a bang, and then someone running from the burning cars.
According to Milwaukee Police, the suspect set three cars on fire.
A man who lives on East Belleview said all three of the cars were his.
Hadley Kalish, a neighbor, said the fire was intense enough to feel from inside her home.
"It was like giant fireballs. I could feel the heat from my bedroom window," Kalish said.
Video from another neighbor shows three cars fully engulfed in flames.
"It looked like an explosion, like smoke was everywhere. It was coming into the house. It was insane," Kalish said.
Watch: 'I could feel the heat from my bedroom window': Neighbors describe car fires on East Side
Neighbor Charlotte Hughes woke up to the alarming scene.
"I start hearing like popping noises. Kinda like campfire sounds. Then my room is like lit up, and these three cars are on fire," Hughes said.
"I was like, 'Oh my gosh,'" Hughes said.
According to the Milwaukee Fire Department, there were eight auto fires over the past 24 hours. However, Chief Aaron Lipski didn't have enough information to connect these three to the other five.
"All I saw were about a million firefighters outside trying to cool everything down," Kalish said.
Fire crews were able to get the fires out. Milwaukee police are looking for a suspect.
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Milwaukee Police at (414) 935-7360 or to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at (414) 224-Tips or P3 Tips.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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