NEWS

Hutch gas station 4-car crash, fire injures 6

Richard Liebson, and Thane Grauel
TJN

White Plains firefighters work at the scene of an accident and fire in the Mobil station on the Hutchinson River Parkway in White Plains June 3, 2014.

WHITE PLAINS – Two cars burned in a four-car chain-reaction accident at the Mobil gas station on the Hutchinson River Parkway on Tuesday, with rounds of ammunition reportedly going off in an unmarked state police car.

Six people were injured in the chaotic scene

, none seriously.

The fires, south of Exit 25 near the border of White Plains and Harrison, closed the southbound parkway for more than an hour.

Westchester County police spokesman Kieran O'Leary said the incident occurred when a 70-year-old man driving south went into diabetic shock shortly after 11 a.m. and pulled into the station, hitting a car and a gas pump. In the chain reaction, two cars burst into flames and two others were damaged.

Three of the injured were taken by ambulance to an undisclosed hospital. The others declined medical attention. None of the injuries was considered life-threatening. The names of the injured were not released.

First responders from White Plains, Harrison and Westchester County arrived within minutes and the fires were extinguished before they could spread to other vehicles. White Plains Fire Chief Richard Lyman said officials were trying to determine if the fire suppression system located in the overhead canopy at the gas pumps was working. He said the blaze "absolutely" could have been worse.

County police could not immediately confirm initial reports that the fires set off ammunition rounds, but one official said that an unmarked state police car was among those damaged, and police could be seen removing police tape and other items from the car's trunk. Authorities would not say whether the car contained ammunition that could have gone off during the fires.

A woman whose car was hit by another car but was not one of the two that burned, told The Journal News: "I'm having a really bad day. My dog was in the car. He jumped out and got hit by a car." She did not want to give her name. Her car had Connecticut plates.

The fire charred the support posts and underside of the canopy over the gas pumps, one of which was upside down and resting on one of the burned cars. Foam used to extinguish the fire was spread about the scene. Three helicopters, presumably from the media, hovered overhead.

By noon more than two dozen emergency vehicles from White Plains, Harrison and Westchester County were on the scene, along with a Con Edison crew.