Box truck goes up in flames in the Bronx, multiple vehicles damaged

NEW YORK -- A box truck erupted in flames in the Bronx on Wednesday morning, melting several cars and temporarily stopping subway service.

CBS2 spoke to neighbors who say the fire came dangerously close to burning their homes.

"All I see is blaze fire way up in the sky .... blaze from here to there," Eastchester resident Ann Hoo said.

Residents say they saw the box truck start smoking and then burst into flames just before 6 a.m. right next to the elevated subway tracks at the Dyre Avenue station, temporarily stopping train service.

"This looks like a scene in Ukraine. That's how bad it looks, like a bomb drop or something. Never seen anything like this," one person said.

The Department of Transportation says a New Jersey contractor, Statewide Striping Corporation, was applying epoxy gravel to a new pedestrian space under the elevated train.

"The truck, I think they had propane and epoxy ... said epoxy must have leaked out and that's why it started fire under the cars," resident Everton Baker said.

The FDNY said it had to use foam hoses to douse the flammable liquids, but before they could put it out the fire spread burning at least six vehicles.

CBS2 reached the owner of a now-destroyed classic car by phone.

"I'm so hurting. Oh, that's my heart ... my baby," the owner said.

Meanwhile, terrified residents said the fire came dangerously close to their homes, melting their windows and curtains.

"I was panicking, wondering if it was going to come closer," Hoo said.

Hoo and another tenant in the house took cellphone video from their living room, showing flames at their front door before they evacuated out the back.

"My window was blown out upstairs. The window is all shattered out," Hoo said.

The fire marshal's office is still working to determine exactly what caused the fire. Meanwhile, a big cleanup is just beginning.

In:
• Bronx