Route 1 was shut down in both directions when a car went up in flames on the shoulder.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK -- A woman's vehicle was engulfed in flames and smoke Wednesday morning on the side of Route 1, causing the highway to be shut down until the blaze was put under control, officials said in a statement.
Officer Sal Fama, of the South Brunswick Police Department, was driving south of Route 1 at around 9 a.m. when he saw a vehicle driving on the north side "with smoke coming out of it," according to a statement from the police department.
Fama found the car pulled over on the shoulder of Route 1 near Northumberland Way with the driver -- a 59-year-old woman from New Brunswick -- standing outside the vehicle, the statement said.
The woman, according to police in the statement, said she was "just driving her black Volvo when smoke started to appear."
Fama guided her back to his police cruiser, which he moved further away from the smoking vehicle when the car "became engulfed in smoke and flames," the statement said.
No one was injured.
Route 1 had to be shut down in both directions until firefighters from the Monmouth Junction Fire Department extinguished the fire.
Officials in the statement said the "exact cause of the fire is unknown."
Officials reopened the highway at around 10:15 a.m.
Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.