VIDEO: Car Engulfed In Flames On Sunrise Highway; Man Hospitalized After Rescue: Police

BOHEMIA, NY — A man was hospitalized after helping rescue a driver from a burning vehicle on Sunrise Highway in Bohemia Tuesday morning, Suffolk County police said.

According to police, Highway Patrol officers responded to a car fire at around 11:20 a.m. on April 7.

A 73-year-old woman was driving a 2003 Toyota Camry in the left lane when a passing motorist flagged her down to alert her that her car was on fire, police said.

Both vehicles pulled over, and the driver exited her car.

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The passing motorist, a 52-year-old man, helped pull the woman away from the burning vehicle, police said.

The man was transported to a local hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation, police said. The woman was not injured and did not require hospitalization.

The Bohemia Fire Department extinguished the fire.

As of the initial response, the left and middle lanes of Sunrise Highway were shut down, police said.

A witness who was driving in the area said the vehicle was “completely engulfed in flames” and caused heavy traffic delays near a merge point.

“I’ve never usually been that close to something like that,” witness Ray Baierlein told Patch. “I don’t know what caused it, but there was a car completely engulfed in flames and locking up traffic.”

Police vehicles were positioned a distance away from the fire, limiting traffic as cars slowly passed the scene.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.