The car was carrying dozens of snakes to a reptile show when something went awry on the FDR Drive on Saturday morning, said driver Sean Casey, who runs a reptile-focused animal-rescue organization. The 27-year-old Brooklyn man said he lost control of the station wagon, swerved to avoid running into any other cars and hit a highway wall. Then he noticed flames coming out of his car engine.
Fearing for the more than two dozen nonpoisonous snakes, lizards and turtles in fish tanks in the back of the car, he grabbed the tanks and set them on the highway wall. He wrapped the tanks in blankets to keep the cold-blooded creatures warm while firefighters put out the flames.
"Once the fire was out, they said it was safe to put the snakes back in," he said.
The reptiles weren't hurt in the incident.
