Two car fires erupted on the Upper West Side in the past 24 hours.
In the early morning on Tuesday, a car burst into flames at 318 West 100th Street between Riverside Drive and West End Avenue, after a fire that appeared to have been sparked by burning garbage. The fire was called in at 4:48 a.m. and was under control by 5:31 a.m., the FDNY told us. Actor and writer Adam LeBow was on the scene this morning and posted about it on his tumblr. He also let us use the picture above. An FDNY spokesman said that a cause had not yet been determined, but it looks like the fire started in a garbage pile next to the car, LeBow wrote.
“Those at the scene this morning estimate that the fire, which started in a pile of residential garbage that was at the curb awaiting sanitation department pickup, began around 4:30 AM. A fire department official observing the damage pointed out that, from there, the story becomes obvious: the garbage bags contained a large amount of books being discarded. Easily ignited, the fire probably grew quickly, communicated to the vehicle parked alongside that part of the curb, and then communicated to the vehicles in front of and behind the first vehicle before the FDNY was able to put the fire out.”
Adam Lebow The cause was not determined. 318 west 100th street. car fire. came in at 4:48 a.m. 5:31 a.m. incident closed.”
Last night at 7:45 p.m. a car at 89th street and central park west also erupted in flames. The blaze was out by 8:10, but not before causing quite a scene. As our tipster Jessica, who sent in the picture below wrote:
“Entire front of the car looked engulfed in flames, cops had cordoned off CPW on both sides of it and were telling everyone to get back and get out of there. People were saying that the gas tank could blow which was why they were trying to clear the area. I hightailed it myself so I don’t know what ended up happening.”
I’m not saying the car deserved to be burned, but it does look like it’s parked in the crosswalk! FDNY said they had not yet determined the cause for the Central Park West fire. No injuries were reported in either blaze.
The photo of the second fire seems to show the car is in the bike lane rather than in the parking lane. Most likely it was being driven when the fire started and they pulled over there.