Single Vehicle Crash Briefly Closes Section of Martine Ave

A fiery car crash near the Scotch Plains/Clark border forced police to close a section of Martine Avenue late Tuesday night.

Shortly before 11 p.m., police said, a sedan traveling along the wooded section of Martine Avenue – about a half-mile southeast of the South Side Fire Station – careened off the road and into a dense group of trees, where it burst into flames.

Scotch Plains and Clark fire units, Scotch Plains, Clark, and Union County police officers, and the Scotch Plains Rescue Squad and Clark Emergency Squad responded to the scene. There, they found that the driver had already gotten out of the vehicle, Scotch Plains Police Lt. Joseph Zito said. The driver was transported to a hospital by ambulance for "precautionary reasons," Zito said. There was no other information available on the driver's condition.

The car, itself, was barely recognizable. Sitting in a ditch by the side of the road, the front and rear pointed toward the treetops, the vehicle a U-shaped wreck. 

Emergency workers quickly extinguished the blaze, and others searched the woods to ensure that no other victims were involved in the crash. Officers diverted traffic at Martine Avenue and Raritan Road. By 11 p.m., the fire was extinguished.