Fire Severely Damages Car, Closes Route 37 East In Manchester

(Photos courtesy Manchester Township Police)

A fire heavily damaged a car and caused Route 37 eastbound to be shut down for about an hour late Saturday night while the fire was extinguished, Manchester police said.

There were no injuries in the incident, Manchester Lt. Vincent Manco said.

Police received a call just after 11:30 Saturday night reporting the vehicle fire on eastbound Route 37 near Colonial Drive. Patrolmen Patrick Mabie and Matthew Walaszek found a 2005 Nissan Altima with its engine compartment in flames.

The driver, Talia Payton, 21, of Lindberg Square, Manchester, and her passenger, Marcus Montgomery, 21, of Pine Lake Drive, West Hempstead, N.Y., were out of the car and were uninjured, Manco said. Payton was later taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure by the Manchester First Aid Squad, he said.

Route 37 was closed eastbound for about an hour while the fire was extinguished and the car removed from the road, he said. The Manchester and Ridgeway fire departments responded.