Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Six people were hospitalized after a chain-reaction crash involving five vehicles caught fire during rush hour Tuesday evening on Veterans Memorial Highway in Smithtown, according to police. The rear-end collision occurred near Ledgewood Drive around 5:55 p.m. when John Heenan, 60, of Glendale, was driving a 2025 Mazda CX30 eastbound in the left lane and struck the rear of a 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander that was stopped in a left-turn lane waiting to head north.
The initial impact triggered a cascade collision that pushed three other vehicles into each other, police said. Four vehicles had been stopped in the left-turn lane when Heenan’s Mazda crashed into the rear of the line. The force of the collision created a domino effect, with each vehicle being pushed forward into the one ahead of it.
Both Heenan’s 2025 Mazda CX30 and a 2025 Tesla Model 3 that had been struck in the chain reaction caught fire following the crash. The flames from Heenan’s Mazda spread to the Tesla, creating a dangerous situation that required immediate response from the Smithtown Fire Department, who successfully extinguished the blaze.
All six injured motorists were transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment. Five victims were taken by ambulance, while one person required emergency helicopter transport via Suffolk County Police helicopter due to the severity of their injuries. Heenan, who caused the initial rear-end collision, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the crash.
The driver of the Mitsubishi Outlander that was initially struck was identified as Erin Applebaum, 43, of Hauppauge, who sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries, according to police. Applebaum’s two daughters, ages 9 and 12, were also injured in the collision and were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The Tesla Model 3 that caught fire was being driven by Michelle Lewis, 43, of Hauppauge, who was treated for non-life-threatening injuries along with her 8-year-old son.
Two other drivers involved in the five-car pileup were identified as Ahad Idris, 31, of Smithtown, and Ann Denning, 39, also of Smithtown. Both Idris and Denning escaped the crash without injuries despite being part of the chain-reaction collision, police reported.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on Veterans Memorial Highway near Ledgewood Drive in Smithtown, a busy stretch of roadway that sees heavy commuter traffic during evening rush hours. Veterans Memorial Highway, commonly known as Vets Highway, serves as a major east-west arterial road connecting multiple Long Island communities and is frequently congested during peak travel times.
The specific location where the collision occurred features a left-turn lane where vehicles regularly queue during rush hour to access northbound routes. The intersection near Ledgewood Drive is a common bottleneck during evening commute hours, with vehicles often backing up in turning lanes as drivers attempt to navigate away from the main thoroughfare.
Broader Impact
The crash highlights the particular dangers posed by vehicle fires in multi-car collisions, especially involving newer electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3. The rapid spread of flames from Heenan’s conventional Mazda to the Tesla created additional hazards that required specialized firefighting response from the Smithtown Fire Department. The incident also demonstrates how a single moment of inattention during rush hour traffic can create a cascade of injuries, with six people requiring hospitalization despite the fact that four of the five vehicles involved were simply stopped and waiting to turn when they were struck from behind.