Car-carrier fire shuts Thruway lanes

A fire and resulting explosions on a car-carrying truck from Westbury forced the closing of the southbound lanes of New York State Thruway just south of the Kingston exit for almost two hours Monday afternoon, state police said.

There were no injuries, police said.

The truck belonging to J& D Car Carrier Corp. of Westbury and carrying nine vehicles caught fire about 2:35 p.m., forcing the closure of all southbound lanes until 4:30 p.m., police said. All lanes were reopened by 5:23 p.m.

After the initial fire, several cars on the carrier caught fire and exploded, sending debris hurtling into the northbound lanes, which were closed briefly, police said.

The truck and seven of the nine vehicles were destroyed, police said.

Police said there were no charges against the driver, who was identified only as B. Torres-Melendez, 32, of Uniondale. It was not clear Monday night what caused the fire.