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VIDEO: Fuel from Burning Van on E. 58th St. Sets 5 Other Cars Ablaze

By Noah Hurowitz | March 24, 2017 11:44am
 Cars burn on East 58th Street after burning fuel from a van flowed downhill.
Cars burn on East 58th Street after burning fuel from a van flowed downhill.
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Joseph Enoch

MIDTOWN EAST — A van burst into flames on East 58th Street Friday morning, spewing burning gasoline that flowed downhill and set five other vehicles ablaze, the FDNY and witnesses said. 

The fire broke out about 9 a.m. underneath a plumbing van parked on East 58th Street between First and Second avenues, according to the FDNY and Joseph Enoch, who was standing in his building lobby on the same block when he first noticed the flames.

Credit: Joseph Enoch

Enoch watched as gas from the van leaked out and flowed toward First Avenue, causing five more cars to catch fire, he said. 

“It was really frustrating because I live right there and I felt like I was just watching this stream of fuel flow from one car to the next,” he said. “It just rolled downhill.”

Jordyn Norman, another neighbor, said she was inside her apartment when she heard a commotion that she initially thought was construction noise until she looked out her window and saw smoke.

When she ran outside to get a better view, all six vehicles were engulfed as firefighters fought to get the blaze under control, she said.

“They acted quick to get everyone off the street and close the roads down,” Norman recounted. “They split up, and some tried to tame the larger fire while other workers went to the five cars down the road.”

Firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control by 9:30 a.m., and there were no reported injuries, and FDNY spokeswoman said.