A local resident surveys fire damage on two cars near Troutman St. and Knickerbocker Ave. — Photo by Diego Cupolo
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A violent blaze of unknown origins scorched two cars parked near Troutman Street and Knickerbocker Avenue late Friday night. Though police are still investigating the incident, local residents believe the fire started beneath the Chrysler 300 and spread to the nearby GMC Safari.
The smell of charred plastic fills the air within a 20-foot radius of the scene as curious pedestrians stop to take pictures of the crispy carnage. Few parts, if any, seem to be missing from either vehicle.
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A woman who lives on the block said a homemade bomb exploded under the Chrysler’s hood and the flames damaged both cars — a questionable scenario considering multiple residents on the street did not hear a blast Friday night. Also, a man claiming to be the brother of the Chrysler’s owner said the car received a tune up last week and he believes faulty electrical work may have started the blaze.
Either way, the end result draws wide eyes and profanity from passers-by.
Dresden January 5th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Jumping Jesus on a pogo stick!
Steve January 5th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I also saw a burned out car on Varick St. today. WTF?
Dresden January 5th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Cars – they burn.
pat January 5th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I bet these two burned out cars will be there for days. I used to live one block over on Jefferson and there was an abandon mini-van that was set on fire and wasn’t removed for almost a week. It seems people love abandoning the cars and NYPD towing is never around to remove them… in the mini-van case it was there for weeks- glass shattered, engine parts stolen, seats taken….
Steve January 5th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
A small child said the sedan belonged to his aunt. He said it was parked with the motor running while the occupant ran upstairs for a few minutes. When he or she came down, it and the other car were on fire because someone had lit them on fire. Yes, we also think this story makes no sense. But he said his aunt was going to get a new car that day (Sunday).
mopar January 5th, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Darn, that last comment was from Mopar, not Steve.
emily January 6th, 2009 at 8:54 am
I saw a car burning on Bushwick Pl, last night!
mopar January 6th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
What is with all the car burnings? Especially if they weren’t even stolen? (Assuming this small child had the story straight about his aunt’s car.)
Dresden January 6th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Cars are ugly and they kill innocent people.
More than Israel at least.
HOPE January 7th, 2009 at 9:36 am
My roomie and I walked by this on Sunday after brunch. It had DOS stickers on it at this point, but didn’t look to be leaving any time soon. Like 5 or 6 firetrucks were gathering lurkers on Jefferson Sunday afternoon also. Is the whole hood gona go down!?
smk January 7th, 2009 at 10:37 am
the cars were gone when i drove by yesterday…i live on that block of troutman and the situation seems a bit sketch for sure…
MSH January 7th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
it wasnt an abandoned car, pat… it was pretty fancy and often used. I park my car next to it often and am so happy mine was not the minivan… I was parked further down.
Dresden January 7th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Maybe it’s ELF! Anti-Car Terrorists!
pixie January 9th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I used to live on that block and one summer there was an abandoned car there for 3 weeks before they finally towed it away. They gave it a couple parking tickets the first week, then stopped but it still sat there. Everyday somebody vandalized it more; they smashed the windows one by one, lined up beer bottles in the rear window and threw an old tv through the windshield. When I called 311 the 2nd time to check the status of my complaint they said the cops had checked it out and didn’t see a problem!
MSH January 9th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
haha! I remember that car, Pixie… it was interesting to see how it changed… I like the TV in it. these two are gone after two days. I think the fancy white one belonged to your neighbor in the building, I saw him in it often.
pixie January 10th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I wish I had taken pictures of it every day to see the progression of its deterioration. It was like an art project.