Parked car near Riverhead train station catches fire during winter storm
An empty taxi parked across the street from the Riverhead train station erupted in flames as snow blanketed the region on Sunday, officials said.
Riverhead Fire Department Chief Piotr Kurzyna said volunteers responded to the vehicle fire around 4:33 p.m. and extinguished the blaze in minutes.
There were no reported injuries, the fire chief said. Riverhead Police Chief Ed Frost said the incident appears to be non-criminal.
The Riverhead Town Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the incident.
The Riverhead Fire Department remained on standby throughout the snowstorm. In addition to hosing down the vehicle fire, volunteers responded to multiple, non-serious automatic alarms.
Chief Kurzyna said the fire department also got a call for a commercial gas leak on Monday.
“We’ve been doing pretty good, people have been staying home, and our guys have been responding,” the fire chief said. “We are taking care of the district — we are still responding, no matter what.”
Winter Storm Fern dumped 9.4 inches on downtown Riverhead as of 5 p.m. Sunday, while Jamesport got 7 inches, according to the National Weather Service — the largest snowfall since the blizzard of 2022 dropped around two feet of snow on the region.
Chief Frost said calls to the department were down 24% in comparison to last week. There were a total of just 50 over the weekend.
“Over the storm period, most of them were run of the mill calls for us: medical emergencies, people getting transported to Peconic Bay [Medical Center],” he said in a phone call on Monday. “We actually only had three motor vehicle accidents … I guess people heeded the warnings to stay off the roads and drive carefully, which is great.”
The police chief thanked his officers for their efforts during Winter Storm Fern and their dedication to keeping the public safe. He also acknowledged the local volunteer EMS personnel who responded to about a dozen medical emergencies during the storm, as well as the highway and fire departments’ hard work.
“They’re out during these incidents, driving in treacherous conditions — snow on the road, high winds and cold weather,” Chief Frost said. “They’re volunteers and I just would like to say thank you for their efforts.”
