No injuries reported during incident
By Amy Batista, Special Writer
CRANBURY — Firefighters battled a stretch limousine blaze during the mid-afternoon on May 24 as a family found themselves making some unexpected plans as they are trying to head out on vacation.
The occupants and driver of the vehicle were all out of the car by the time the police officers arrived, and there were no injuries, according to Chief of Police Rickey Varga.
”When they pulled up and arrived on scene they saw the vehicle engulfed in flames,” Chief Varga said.
Marvin Whatley of Brooklyn, New York, was driving the 2006 Chrysler 300 stretch limousine, hired to bring the Yonce family along with their daughter’s boyfriends – Kevin East and Cody Ambacher from West Windsor and Plainsboro area to John F. Kennedy Airport.
”The faire originated from the Plainsboro or West Windsor area heading out to JFK airport,” Chief Varga said. “The driver noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment of the vehicle and pulled over and shortly thereafter, the vehicle was fully engulfed.”
The incident took place around 2:53 p.m. in front of 164 Dey Road.
The owner of the limousine is Avis Limousine, Inc. out of Massapequa, New York, according to officials.
Marissa Mellan of Roosevelt was on her way to work in Plainsboro that afternoon when she drove past the vehicle and noticed “smoke was coming from” it.
”I saw a limo on the side of the road,” said Ms. Mellan. “It didn’t look bad at all as I passed by. Just some smoke outside the back of the limo. I saw the family outside the back of the limo and they were taking their luggage out.”
Assistant Fire Chief Jeremy Watkins of the Cranbury Volunteer Fire Company was in charge of the incident last Friday.
The firefighters on scene used foam instead of water to put the vehicle fire out, he said.
”When we arrived on scene I saw a stretch limo fully involved (in flames) from front to back,” Asst. Chief Watkins said. “(Fire) crews went in service with a 1 ¾-inch hand line with foam.”
According to Asst. Chief Watkins, the bulk of the fire was knocked down within about 10 minutes of arriving.
”Being that it was a limo rather than a standard vehicle, it took a bit longer,” Asst. Chief Watkins said. “We also had fuel leaking from the limo which was in turn catching fire.”
The Monmouth Junction Volunteer Fire Department from South Brunswick and Cranbury First Aid Squad also responded to the incident.
The Middlesex County HAZMAT unit was also contacted because fuel was leaking from the limo.
”Being that the location of the fire was directly in front of a horse farm and water runoff was making its way onto the grass where the horses were, I made the decision to notify HAZMAT and have them respond to the scene to do some tests,” Asst. Chief Watkins said.
The HAZMAT unit determined that there was no issue with the fuel leaking and “declared the site safe” from hazardous materials, he said.
”All the fire fighters from the scene did a great job with the fire,” Asst. Chief Watkins said. “Police did a great job getting the road closed in both directions very quickly allowing the fire apparatus to get to the scene as well as work at extinguishing the fire without fear of cars passing behind us.”
Summonses were issued to the driver and the company for its registration being suspended and for cancelled insurance, according to Chief Varga.
”Which means that apparently the insurance was, for some reason, not paid on the vehicle and the insurance company notified Motor Vehicles in New York and Motor Vehicles suspended the vehicle,” he said.
Chief Varga said there was “nothing suspicious” about the incident.
The East Windsor Township Police Department is conducting an investigation into the cause of the fire.

