UPDATE: Probe Continues Into Cause of Police Car Fire

Investigators are still trying to pinpoint the exact cause of a fire that last weekend destroyed a vehicle parked outside of police headquarters, police said on Friday. The fire also damaged at least one of the doors leading into the police garage.

Meanwhile, the insurance claim for the damage of the car and equipment inside also is being investigated, said Police Lt. Mike Shimsky.

The fully equipped, unoccupied police parked outside the headquarters on Collyer Lane was completely destroyed by fire at about 6 p.m. on Sunday, April 1, after the police officer driving smelled burning, and got out of the vehicle.

Shimsky on Monday afternoon added further details to an earlier account, saying Patrol Officer Slawomir Zolnierowski had detected a burnt odor while inside the vehicle, and opened the trunk to find the vehicle was burning.

The vehicle was quickly engulfed in flames, Shimsky said. The car was parked by a parking garage located under the main floor of headquarters, he said.

No injuries were reported, and the cause remained unknown as Monday afternoon, Shimsky said. "We don't know how it started yet," he said at that time. However, he said the fire seems to have originated in the trunk.

"The car was destroyed," Shimsky said. All equipment inside the police vehicle was incinerated, and ammunition within exploded during the fire, he said.

Multiple fire companies from the area and emergency responders rushed to extinguish the fire, Shimsky said.

The burned vehicle was towed to the public works department, he said. One side of the police garage was charred in the aftermath of the blaze.

Shimsky, who said he arrived at headquarters soon after the blaze was reported, said that fire hoses were run through the lobby of headquarters and down the driveway to where the car was ablaze.

Fire companies from Basking Ridge, Liberty Corner, Lyons, Bernardsville and others, along with the Basking Ridge First Aid Squad, were among the responders, Shimsky said.