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Early Morning Fire Engulfs Ambulances In Inwood, Long Island

INWOOD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Authorities are investigating an early morning fire in Nassau County that engulfed at least three ambulances in flames.

It happened just before 3 a.m. Friday at a parking lot belonging to First Response Ambulance off Sheridan Boulevard in Inwood, Long Island -- not to be confused with the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of the same name.

A gas station attendant working nearby said someone came running into the station to report the fire.

"He knocked on the window and said 'there is a fire out there' so when I see it, I grabbed the telephone and called the fire department," said Qudos Khan.

Investigators said the blaze appears to be an electrical fire that started inside one of the ambulances and then spread to the other vehicles, CBS 2's Janelle Burrell reported.

"They were all close together and they all had oxygen cylinders in them which failed and contributed to the fire," said James Hickson, of Nassau County Fire Investigators.

The fire jumped the fence, damaging five cars parked in the nearby Five Towns Auto Group parking lot, Burrell reported.

The ambulance company's director of operations said there were no warning signs.

"We don't know of any issues, we're checking our records, apparently the vehicles were working the day before and there were no issues with it," Sam Mezrahi said.

The company said it has a number of other ambulances in its fleet, so the fire will not affect the day-to-day operations.

No injuries were reported.

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