Ambulance Explodes, Fire Spreads To Cars On UWS Street, FDNY Says

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — Several cars were engulfed in flames early Wednesday morning on an Upper West Side street after an ambulance exploded, an FDNY spokesman said.

The explosion occurred around midnight on West 73rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, fire officials said. As the ambulance burned, the fire spread to parked cars on the street, fire officials said. Several cars that caught fire suffered serious damage, according to photos and videos taken at the scene.

As the fire raged, popping sounds could be heard, according to video from the scene.

"I looked out the window and there were flames all the way up the tree there and everything, I saw a truck on fire," Upper West Side resident Adam Wood told ABC 7. "It was an ambulance and there were oxygen tanks rolling out and blowing up."

Nobody was injured during the blaze, which took about 20 minutes to contain, fire officials said. The cause of the initial explosion is under investigation.

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