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Residents Run For Their Lives After Fiery Crash At Paterson Gas Station

PATERSON, N.J.(CBSNewYork) -- It came out of nowhere! A car crashed and burst into flames near fuel pumps at a gas station in Paterson.

The accident caused nearby residents to run for their lives.

However, as CBS 2's Steve Langford reported, the fiery crash could have been much worse.

Just before 3 a.m. a car crashed into a gas station, narrowly missing the fuel pump. The driver of the car had to be pulled from the fiery wreck as flames began to ravage the home next door.

"I heard a big crash," Marcos Negrini recalled.

Negrini and his wife got the shock of their lives when the explosion and fire chased them from their first floor home in the middle of the night.

It was a chaotic scene as surveillance video showed people running towards and then away from the fire next to gas pumps.

"They were saying 'get out of the car' and then I heard them like screaming and yelling," Emmanuel Garcia said.

Neighbors say that the intersection turns into a scene late at night, filled with traffic, speeding cars, and lots of people.

The violent crash sent nearby residents into a late night panic.

"When I looked out the window the fire was high in the air," a witness said.

The fuel pumps and tanks were not touched, and the neighborhood was spared.

Investigators have yet to release the condition of the driver pulled from the vehicle.

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