WEST WINDSOR — Police are investigating after a raging car fire in a residential driveway killed a man who was inside the car yesterday morning. Though authorities say they do not believe the fire was the result of foul play, the exact cause remains undetermined. Police said the call for a vehicle on fire in front of a home on Rabbit Hill Road came in at around 10:50 a.m. Patrolman Frank Bal arrived to find a Nissan Maxima fully engulfed in flames in the driveway of a residence. He grabbed the fire extinguisher from his police cruiser and attempted to fight the fire with it. Neighbor Karpal Grewal came outside when he heard Bal's cruiser arrive with its siren blaring. "When we got out we saw the car was burning," Grewal said. As Bal grabbed the extinguisher, police say he was advised by the residents of the home where the burning car was that there was a chance someone was still inside. As Bal emptied the fire extinguisher into the car, he saw what appeared to be a body on fire in the driver's seat. Police said the extinguisher ran out before it could have much effect on the fire, and Bal was forced to wait for fire units, which arrived a short time later. With firefighters quickly putting out the flames, human remains were visible across the seats of the vehicle, police said. Authorities believe there was a single person inside the car, an unnamed 44-year-old Edison man. The West Windsor Police Department Detective Bureau, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office Arson Investigation Unit, and the Mercer County Homicide Unit were all contacted and are continuing the investigation to identify the victim and determine the circumstances of his death. Anyone with information regarding the investigation is urged to contact West Windsor Detective Sgt. Brian Melnick or Detective Rob Poskay at (609) 799-1222.

WEST WINDSOR — The man who died in a car fire in the driveway of a Rabbit Hill Road home early Sunday was identified yesterday as the 44-year-old Edison man police initially suspected was the occupant. Syed Hyder was pronounced dead at the scene of the 10:50 a.m. fire. Police continue to probe why Hyder was inside the car and why it caught fire. They still do not suspect foul play or mechanical failure by the vehicle, police said yesterday. An autopsy was performed on Hyder's body yesterday but results were officially inconclusive, other than that the death was not suspicious. Hyder was an electrical engineer for the city of Newark. Police have said they arrived at the home to find a Nissan Maxima fully engulfed in flames in the driveway of a house. A police officer emptied a fire extinguisher in an attempt to fight the fire, but the flames were too intense and it could not be brought under control until township firefighters arrived a short time later. Once the fire was put out, human remains were visible across the seats of the vehicle, police said.