A black ring of charcoal surrounded the vehicle which was stolen from Flower Place between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

The silver Subaru Forester first resurfaced in Willow Park early Saturday morning.

At 5.30am the vehicle was parked on the bike path parallel to McFarland Road and set on fire.

Nearby resident Catherine Driscoll said she thought it was fireworks that had woken her so early in the morning.

“I heard at least 10 loud bangs and they went off in intervals,” she said.

“I didn’t see the car until later in the morning and then I realised that was the cause of the noise we heard.”

Police believe two men were involved after separate witnesses said they heard the offenders’ voices and saw them run towards McFarland Road.

Firefighters responded and the car was engulfed in flames when they arrived.

Wodonga CFA station officer Brett Myers said the car’s position behind housing and away from the road added an extra challenge for firefighters.

“It was very difficult for trucks to enter because it was on a bike path,” Mr Myers said.

“We had one truck enter from Pearce Street and the other from Brockley Street.”

There was a similar case on Saturday night when Albury firefighters were called to Jelbart Park just after 9.30pm.

A Ford F250 was found on fire and at risk of exploding according to Albury Central fire station officer Simon Huggett.

“The car had a gas cylinder in it which was venting — it has to be extremely hot for it to do that,” he said.

“The gas cylinder has a pressure release valve and the gas was bursting through that valve.

“If the gas expands quicker than it can vent, it explodes.”

Meanwhile, another stolen car was badly damaged after crashing in Wodonga yesterday.

The Proton sedan was stolen from a Wilson Street home on Saturday night and crashed into trees on Pearce Street about 7.55am yesterday and the offenders fled the scene.