By: Anthony Rifilato
Two Queens residents were nearly engulfed in flames on Merrick Road last week after their car suddenly caught fire.
The fire occurred at around 4 p.m. on Jan. 6 as the two were heading west on Merrick Road and waiting for the light at the intersection of Grand Avenue. "I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw all this smoke while waiting for the light," said Dolores Conti, the car's driver, who works in Northport.
She and a friend, Robert Matta, who sat in the passenger seat, were soon overwhelmed by the smoke. Conti's 1991 white Cadillac was stopped in front of the Old Venice Inn, and while customers came outside and urged them to get out of the car, Conti shut the engine off and grabbed some items from the car, and the two ran inside the restaurant.
"We were stunned," said patron and Bellmore resident Debbie Oxios. "[Conti] said, 'Call 911!' She was panicky."
As Conti and others dialed 911, the smoke quickly turned into flames. "The car was ... engulfed," said Baldwin resident Steve Bowden, one of the customers who ran to the corner and dialed 911 at a local store.
Smoke was seeping into nearby businesses and could be seen from afar. Before police and firefighters arrived, the Cadillac's tires began bursting loudly as the intensity of the heat grew, while drivers rubbernecked and pedestrians gawked at the blaze.
"When [the fire department] got here the car was in flames," said Conti, estimating that firefighters arrived some 15 to 20 minutes later. "The fire department could have come a little quicker."
Fire officials disagreed, saying the response was quick. After they received the 911 call at 3:59 p.m., firefighters began arriving within three minutes. "It was actually a fast response," said Third Deputy Chief Doug Weidmann, who added that it took about 45 minutes to extinguish the severe blaze.
Despite initial reports from witnesses that the car had exploded, Weidmann said that was not the case. "The tires blew out," said Weidmann. "It sounds like an explosion."
Fire officials are not sure what caused the fire. "It seemed to be mechanical," Weidmann said.
With temperatures dropping significantly that night, Merrick Road between Grand Avenue and Harrison Avenue was closed for hours due to icy conditions, a result of the water left behind by the hoses fighting the blaze. The Town of Hempstead sent trucks to sand the street. "It was cold enough where icing was a concern," said Weidmann.
While firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze, Conti and Matta received support from employees and customers at the Old Venice Inn, who watched the scene unfurl. "They were angels," said Conti. "I couldn't describe more wonderful people."
After the fire was extinguished and the blackened Cadillac was towed away, Conti stood over some debris and the charred, rectangular mark that the fire had left on the pavement. Milk crates that she had removed before the car burst in flames, filled with cloths and quarts of oil, were left on the curb.
Conti said she isn't sure what caused the fire. She had stopped in Bethpage to gas up and did not have any recent car trouble. She recently had new brakes installed. "I was so shocked," she said. "I'm still overwhelmed."
For Matta, the ordeal was initially made even more harrowing, he said, because he had watched the horror film "Final Destination" the night before, in which young people are killed in freakish accidents. "I thought that was it," he said Matta, half joking.
As the two waited at the Old Venice Inn bar for a ride from Conti's daughter, their new-found friends wished them well. "I want to say that I'm glad you guys are alive," one woman told them before leaving.
Despite such an overwhelming evening in Baldwin, Conti and Matta were grateful for all the support they received, and said they would come back to the Inn for dinner, and maybe even become regulars. "I'm going to come here all the time now," Conti said.
