A minivan seemingly burst into flames on a residential street on Saturday evening in the Fordham Manor section of The Bronx, damaging two other vehicles, as at least one young child was playing nearby.

 

An FDNY spokesperson later said the fire department received a call at 2.23 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 7, for a report of a car fire at 84 West 188th Street by University Avenue. The spokesperson said two units responded to the blaze, and added that there were no injuries reported.

Click here, here, here, and here to view some videos of the scene courtesy of Frank, owner of a local barbershop.

 

Norwood News later observed the burned out minivan still on the street on Saturday evening, along with two other damaged vehicles and an FDNY unit parked nearby. We spoke to two young male local residents of the area, Wraithin and Vingacy, and asked them what they knew about what happened.

Wraithn said, “So the car was parked, and nobody was in the car and then it just started…. the engine started getting in flames.”

 

We asked if the driver had left the engine running and the vehicle unoccupied, and Wraithin said, “Uh huh. Then it exploded, and everything just ended up exploding, and then the front car too. The one that was in front of it; it got damaged.”

We asked if anyone had been in the front car. “No, nobody was there,” Wraithin said. Asked if there were a lot of people around at the time, Wraithin said, “Yeah, there was a little girl right here, and there was people in front of the building.”

 

Asked if the little girl had been playing outside, Wraithin said, “yes.” We asked if the owner of the car that seemingly spontaneously combusted eventually appeared. “No, he hasn’t seen it yet, not yet,” Wraithin said.

Asked if somebody called the fire department, Vingancy said, “I feel like everybody was just paying attention to how, like… everybody was watching it blow up. So it was just…..everybody was just in there watching and nobody called nobody. Nobody told nobody.”

 

Wraithin continued in part, “Then the firefighters came.” Vingacy added, “I think someone in the building called the firefighters but the few that was outside didn’t call nobody.”

Wraithin said, “Once it exploded, that’s when the firefighters came and then turned off the flames.”  Asked if they were scared. laughing, one said no and the other said he had been a bit scared. Vingancy added, “I was just like, ‘What the [expletive] is it?'”

 

Asked if they were 100 percent sure there was nobody inside the vehicles, they said, “Yeah, you could see.”  Asked if they could see what was in the back of the minivan, they said, “No, no, it looked like a lot of stuff right there. Probably chairs. Who knows?”

Asked again if the engine was definitely running, they said it was. Inside the burned out vehicle, there appeared to be a possible wall mirror but it was difficult to make out the rest.

 

We also spoke to Frank, owner of a local barber shop, Nana’s Beauty Center, located on University Avenue opposite East 188th Street, about the incident and asked him what he knew about what happened. “I just saw the van smoking and I call the fire department,” he said.  “Then, I went with the fire extinguisher with a guy from the store to [inaudible] the fire.”

Frank continued, “But it was too much. Then, the fire department took longer today, so I tried to do the best I could by putting it out but it was too much.” He said he emptied his fire extinguisher in his efforts to tackle the blaze.

 

Asked if he knew how it started, Frank said, “No, I’ve no idea. Somebody told me the car was smoking and I called the fire department right away.”

 

Norwood News previously reported on an occupied car which suddenty exploded into flames in December 2023 in Norwood. The two male occupants of the vehicle managed to escape on that occasion.

We will share any further updates we receive from the FDNY on this latest vehicle fire, including the cause.

 

Click here to read FDNY’s fire safety tips. “During a fire, always close the door behind you!” fire officials say. “It helps contain smoke and flames, giving you precious time to escape. Your quick action can make the difference.”