Parked vehicle with gas cylinders explodes on NYC street, damaging homes and cars, officials say
NEW YORK (AP) — A parked SUV containing gas cylinders and other flammable materials exploded on a residential street in New York City on Friday, damaging homes, other vehicles and overhead power lines, fire officials said.
Deputy Fire Chief George Healy said at a news conference at the scene of the explosion in the city borough of Queens that there were miraculously no injuries reported.
The dramatic moment when the vehicle exploded into a fireball was captured on doorbell camera footage.
The fire department also posted a video and photos of the charred wreckage and the surrounding destruction, which included homes with blown-out windows and heavily damaged cars.
Healy said the explosion happened at around 6:45 a.m. in the South Ozone Park section of Queens.
The destroyed vehicle was being used for construction work and contained a number of pressurized cylinders, one of which experienced a failure that triggered the explosion, he said.
Some lithium-ion batteries were also being stored in the car, though they were not compromised,.
All told, five homes and five vehicles were damaged, Healy said.
“The general public should be very aware of the safety that needs to be utilized when we’re using pressurized cylinders and lithium-ion batteries,” he added. “So please just make sure if you have these devices, they are stored properly and safely in a manner that won’t prevent any sort of injury or damage.”