Car fire shuts down eastbound Sunrise on Wednesday morning

The eastbound side of the Sunrise Highway was shut down at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday when Merrick Fire Department volunteers responded to a car fire that consumed a black Audi.

The car, whose driver was identified by fire officials as a Roosevelt woman, was parked along the median behind a small, yellow school bus, not more than a hundred yards east of Babylon Turnpike, by the Gateway Inn. Several ambulances lined the Sunrise, and a pumper truck, which had extinguished the blaze, was parked beside the Audi. The vehicle was charred through and through.

According to fire officials, the woman made a right turn onto the eastbound side of the Sunrise Highway from Babylon Turnpike when her engine suddenly started smoking. The woman pulled over, and the car burst into flames. The cause of the blaze is unknown, but it was fierce enough to melt her windshield.

The woman was unhurt. Sunrise Highway was closed for 15 minutes.

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