Posted to Fires on

At around 4:00 PM today, a minivan burst into flames on Crown St. Between Kingston and Albany Ave., just as students from the nearby Lubavitcher Yeshiva were making their way home.

Video: Car Explodes on Crown Street

At around 4:00 PM today, a minivan burst into flames on Crown St. Between Kingston and Albany Ave., just as students from the nearby Lubavitcher Yeshiva were making their way home.

A number of Shomrim members, who happen to work nearby, came over immediately and escorted the schoolchildren to safety until the Fire Department arrived.

The firefighters unrolled the hoses, but an issue with the fire hydrant caused a 5 minute delay, during which an explosion occurred inside the car. Once the water began to flow through the hoses, the fire was quickly brought under control.

According to witnesses, the car burst into flames due to a malfunction while being repaired by two residents from the building across the street.

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30 Comments

  • always blame the Jews

    An insurance scam? No, it’s the JEWS fault. The owner told my neighbor that the car was destroyed because the Jews didn’t care enough to put it out. i think shes nuts. I carry a fire extinguisher in my purse just in case and I didnt use it. I bad.

  • Reb Yid

    My Car was burned recently at 2am for no reason. I think the FBI did it. I do not know anyone else who would do this evil to us. This was a total loss. I had no insurance for FBI perversion, wickedness and cruelty.

  • 2nd time in a week

    last thursday night the same thing happened on eastern parkway.
    any connection?

  • Barney

    Do none of these spectators have jobs? They have time to stand around at 4:00pm to gawk at a fire? How does that work?

  • Was it a Ford?

    Next news item: “Ford recalling 450,000 minivans, SUVs”

    Any connection???

  • malcab

    these comments are ludicris – the fbi, the jews, the fire department, insurance fraud, tznius, etc – is this all we think of —

    the owner and friend were working on the car – it exploded – the fire department came – they – the fire department had a problem with the hydant –

    who’s to blame – the city for not having a working hydrant not for any other reason —

    time to take responsibity MR BLOOMBERG – fix our city

  • Car owner sounds like a piece of work

    From #3’s comment it sounds like the owner was a black resident of the apartment. It was hilarious to hear that she blamed the ‘Jews’ for the fact that her car ‘repair’ negligence put an entire block in danger, then expected the ‘Jews’ to put out the explosion & fire caused by her mess up and then blamed ‘Jews’ for not being ‘quick enough’ to put her fire out. Could this strange creature really have a license to drive?

  • SOLA MOM

    ATTENTION: The secret eruv in crown heights was damaged as a result of the fire.

  • people ask such stupid questions

    people read the article and you will get all your answers or forget about the spelling you cant read either…

  • Come on, people!

    The owner was very upset & in shock. She kept asking how this could happen to a parked car. It is NOT because of Tznius (the owner is not Jewish). It is NOT because of community machloykes, a controversial new book or Obama budget cuts.

    I guess it’s spontaneous combustion, whatever that is. It was a huge mess – when I got there all I saw was a burned-out shell. B“H no one was hurt or worse. I had walked past 30 minutes earlier & ULY was just dismissed. All those kids going home from school….it could have been a real tragedy. B”H.

    Now let’s see how long it takes for the cadaver to be removed.

  • Neighbor

    THIS car wasn’t being repaired: it was a white van that was pumping out noxious & probably toxic fumes while they were messing with the engine. I don’t remember if it was parked in front of the destroyed vehicle, but I bet sparks from that van started the fire. When I got to the scene there was no sign of the white van & plenty of parking available in front of the burnt-out shell!

    Hope that answers all your questions & concerns.

    One thing: I see a lot of amateur mechanics “fixing” their cars on this block. It’s about time the residents put a stop to it, bearing in mind this event. Next time, it may not be just a car that’s destroyed, chas v’sholem. You want to do vehicle repairs? Go to Everything Automated. They aren’t expensive & their work is good. NO, I AM NOT A RELATIVE!! LOL

  • ticketed

    One good thing….it’s on the right side of the street for today’s alternate side parking rules!

  • YG

    Everyone needs to take a chill pill, look at the comments you think people are being serious?? relax everyone its just people poking fun at the fact that these are the sort of comments that come up every time something bad happens in our community!!

    on a side note that is a CHEVY/GMC Astro van a popular vehicle for years and one that has been known to be easy to modify and “pimp” out with various engines etc. there are plenty of sites out there and if these people were doing work on it themselves then big deal!! it blew up and now they know not to try that again. BH there were no inujries and all it did was provide a show for the kids on the way home from school.

    I agree with one of the other comments here that this is a dangerous practice of street repairs and residients should report it if they see it happening.

  • A Neighbor

    there is a saying “ברוך המקום שהורגו” this van’s alarm went off at all time of the night for hours at a time and the owner didn’t care when we asked him to fix it.