A car parked in the New York City borough of Queens exploded Friday after a pressurized cylinder stored inside failed and caused a fire that in turn fueled the blast.

The car exploded at around 6:47 a.m., the New York City Fire Department posted on Facebook. There were no reported injuries as a result of the blast, though five cars and five houses nearby were damaged in the blast. Lithium-ion batteries stored in the car were luckily uncompromised and the FDNY hazmat unit packed away the batteries out of an abundance of caution.

The car’s owner, Dinell Harricharan, was on Long Island at the time of the blast and told the New York Post that he had parked the Infiniti QX56 outside his younger brother’s house overnight. The two used the car for their plumbing business. 

Equipment the two use for work was accidentally left inside, ultimately leading to the blast.

“We’re plumbers. We have battery-operated tools, so we have all the tools in the car. We have an acetylene tank in the car that we used for soldering. We always take it out every evening and take it inside in a safe spot, in the garage. But last night for some reason we didn’t take it out,” Mr. Harricharan told New York CBS affiliate WCBS-TV.

His brother Jeremy Harricharam told the New York Daily News that the blast occurred just minutes before he was going to take his wife, mother and child and drop them off before his work day began.

“This happened five minutes before all of us were going to go into that vehicle. I don’t know what to think. I’m just in shock,” Mr. Harricharam said.

Fire officials believed gas from a ruptured canister inside the car ignited when Mr. Harricharam started it remotely from inside his house using his key fob, FDNY Deputy Chief George Healy told the New York Daily News.

With insurance not covering the damage to his car from the explosion, he is now left to start over.

“The car’s our lifeline. We have to start over, try to finance and get everything back together,” Mr. Harricharan told the New York Post.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.