SUV Full Of Fireworks Bursts Into Flames On The Thruway

TUXEDO, NY — State police said an SUV carrying fireworks caught fire on the New York State Thruway on Tuesday. Five people were burned, two of them seriously.

A Lincoln Navigator was traveling southbound on Interstate 87 in the town of Tuxedo, vicinity of mile post marker 38.0, police said. The Lincoln Navigator was carrying fireworks in the back. The people in the SUV smelled smoke coming from the rear — and then the fireworks began to ignite.

The vehicle quickly became fully engulfed in flames. Three occupants of the vehicle sustained relatively minor burns, and two other occupants sustained more severe burns, police said.

The explosions blackened a portion of the New York Thruway, and one firefighter who arrived on the scene said fireworks were still shooting out of the car by the time he got there, according to a report from CBS2. Investigators determined that the blaze started when a speaker in the car overheated

The two with the more severe burns were airlifted to Westchester Medical Center for treatment. The fire, and igniting fireworks, were extinguished by members of the Woodbury Fire Department.

The five people in the car were from the Mount Vernon, NY area. Police did not identify them.

The investigation is continuing by the New York State Police.