Man Found Dead after Minivan Explosion on Merritt Parkway

FAIRFIELD -- A Bridgeport man died in an explosive van fire late Wednesday on the Merritt Parkway in Fairfield, State Police said.

The victim was identified Thursday afternoon as 50-year-old Omar Valencia, of Bridgeport.

State police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance said Fairfield firefighters found Valencia's body in the brush near the parkway about 70 feet from the van, which had exploded into flames as Valencia was traveling southbound on the parkway near exit 46.

Vance said the cause of the fire does not appear suspicious.

Connie Wocell, a Papurah Road resident who called the fire department just after 11 p.m. to report the fire, said she was asleep in her house and was awakened by a screaming sound.

Wocell said she has seen and heard coyotes in her yard, which is about four yards away from the parkway and partially blocked from the road by woods, and thought the screaming sounded like that. But then Wocell looked out one of her picture windows and saw flames.

"I heard the screaming and that was almost instantaneously followed by a huge explosion, like a bomb," Wocell said by phone. "That set the dogs barking and I heard what sounded like car horns, so I jumped up to see what was going on and saw the car was on fire. It was such a huge inferno."

Wocell said she did not hear anyone talking or see any people after the explosion and did not hear any additional screaming.

"It didn't make any sense," she said. Wocell said she did not see any other car in the area or hear a crash before the screaming and explosion. She said she could hear many more explosions as tires and other vehicle parts caught fire.

Firefighters arrived on the scene and found a 1997 Chrysler Town and Country minivan fully involved in fire, Assistant Fire Chief George Gomola said. Magnesium was exploding and burning, and the tires and gasoline tank had erupted.

After firefighters extinguished the vehicle blaze and brush fire, which took about 10 minutes, they discovered the male victim's body. There were no other occupants of the vehicle found after the fire was put out, Gomola said.

A source indicated that there were footprints, apparently the victim's, visible in the grass from the van to where the body was found.

Adding to the confusion, an elderly woman driving past the fire became distracted and struck another vehicle that had pulled over in the right lane in front of the burning car so the driver of that car could try to help, Gomola said. The woman was injured and taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center to be treated for minor injuries. The stopped Mitsubishi was not occupied at the time of the accident.

Investigators cleared the scene by around 9:30 a.m. and the minivan was taken by flatbed to the state police Troop G barracks in Bridgeport.

In a statement Thursday morning, acting First Selectman Sherri Steeneck thanked firefighters for "their professionalism and hard work."