Car fire further snarled traffic in Monroe

MONROE-As the end of his work day approached last Friday, Anthony Porrata had already figured he would be sticking around the office at Hudson United Bank on Still Road and Route 17 M. Outside, traffic looked worse than rush-hour gridlock in Manhattan. An accident on Route 17 that killed three people earlier in the afternoon also closed a large portion of the Quickway. Traffic was diverted onto local roads. Frustrated drivers found themselves in stop-and-go traffic and in their vehicles for hours. Porrata, a customer service representative at the bank, and his co-workers watched the traffic all day through the tall windows of their building. They figured that their commute home would be horrible. But as the clock struck 6 p.m., the time the bank officially closes, Porrata, looking out into the traffic, yelled out to his colleagues and the sole customer left, "Look, there's something on fire." Giant flames were shooting up into the sky, just steps from the Gulf gas station across from McDonald's on 17M. Porrata and his colleagues were unsure at the time if it was the gas station on fire, a car, or something else. But there was one thing on people's mind - that there was a huge fire just feet from the gas pumps. Porrata jumped onto one of the large tables where withdrawal and deposit slips are filled out and tried to see over all the traffic congested on all four roads. Within moments, fire trucks and police cars began arriving at the scene. "It's a car on fire, it's a car," Porrata recalled yelling. The scene outside was chaotic. With traffic already barely moving, a number of drivers left their cars in the road to see the action. People running from every which direction to catch a glimpse of the flames as they engulfed the SUV, just steps away from the gas pumps. People were pulling into parking lots so they could get out of their cars and watch and people had cell phones perched to their ears. The fire and police response was quick. Monroe Police blocked off the entrance to the Gulf station and tried to handle traffic on 17M. Firefighters got right to work. "When we first got the call," said First Assistant Chief Vini Tankasali, "the proximity of the gas pumps was a fear, but upon arrival we saw that the fire was a safe distance away and that there was no hazard." "Due to the traffic situation in the Village of Monroe, we had 28 firefighters standing by," he added. "Eighteen guys were sent to the car fire and two trucks, an engine and a rescue." It took about 10 minutes for the fire to be extinguished. Tankasali said the fire started in the SUV's engine compartment and the mother and her children who owned the car took the right measures. "People should think about carrying a fire extinguisher in their vehicles. But the first thing to do is pull over, and get out and away from the car and call 911." Due to the close proximity of the fire house to the scene of the fire, fire officials said that the major traffic caused by the deadly car crash earlier did not slow response time. But their day wasn't over. Less than a half an hour later, firefighters were called out again to a traffic accident in the Village of Monroe, further slowing traffic. Porrata, the bank worker, who was stuck at the office because of all the chaos shaking his head, described the day to his co-workers: "Freaky Friday, man, freaky Friday."