Nineteen vehicles worth $400,000 went up in flames yesterday at a Long Island dealership.
Thirty firefighters rushed to Legend Nissan's outdoor parking lot on Jericho Turnpike in Syosset at around 3:05 a.m. when an "intense" fire was spotted by an officer on patrol, said Assistant Fire Chief John Capobianco.
"The flames were 15 feet high, about 32 feet wide," Capobianco said.
A Fire Department source said the blaze appeared to be suspicious, but neither the Fire nor Police departments would comment officially, other than to say it was under investigation.
Clifford Newman, supervisor of arson investigators for the Nassau County Fire Marshal's Office, said the investigators must look over each automobile before making a determination.
"It's unreal," said a dealership employee who didn't want to be identified. "The cars are so badly burned. [The fire] burned the tires right off. It burned the trunk right off."
