Today at 3:30 p.m. Branford firefighters responded to the report of a vehicle fire on Cherry Hill Road at the intersection of Cherry Street, across from the Canoe Brook Senior Center. Engine 1, Truck 1, Car 6 and M.P. Rice Engine 2 responded.

When crews arrived, Fire Marshal and Assistant Chief Shaun Heffernan said a male’s AT&T utility vehicle was fully engulfed in flames; he was safely down on the ground. Crews were able to knock the fire down within several minutes of arrival.

Heffernan said the fire appeared to have started in the passenger compartment of the vehicle but he was unable to determine a cause at the scene. At this time the fire is under investigation. There are many electronics in the front of the vehicle, said Heffernan.

At the time of the incident, the driver, who operates out of AT&T’s Northford center, was alerted to the fire from a passerby while he was up in the bucket repairing a line, reported fire officials. Upon climbing down from the poll, the driver said he attempted to retrieve a fire extinguisher from the passenger compartment of the vehicle to put out the fire but was able to reach the extinguisher.

During the incident, the AT&T phone line that the worker was repairing sustained direct contact with fire as did the Comcast cable line. Heffernan said it did not appear that the Connecticut Light & Power utility line came in contact with the fire. All three utility companies were responding to the scene to check lines shortly after the incident. Some phone services in immediate are may have been affected.