A car slammed into a tree and burst into flames near Palm Parkway and South Apopka-Vineland Road early Friday morning, sending two people to Orlando-area hospitals. The crash was reported at 8:04 a.m., and one victim suffered burns while the other sustained only minor injuries.
According to WFTV, the driver managed to get out of the vehicle before firefighters reached the scene. When crews arrived, they found the car on fire and extinguished the flames. One patient was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center to be treated for burns, while a second patient was transported to Orlando Health Dr. Phillips Hospital with less serious injuries.
The exact circumstances that led up to the crash were not immediately available, and it remains unclear what caused the vehicle to leave the roadway and strike the tree. No further details on the driver's condition, the vehicle involved, or any citations have been released.
A Corridor With a Troubled Recent History
Friday's fire is the latest incident to hit this stretch of road near Walt Disney World in just a matter of weeks. Just over two weeks earlier, on September 7, a 76-year-old Orlando man was struck and killed by multiple vehicles on South Apopka-Vineland Road near Palm Parkway, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. That crash happened just after 6 a.m., and troopers were searching for a hit-and-run driver reportedly behind the wheel of a possibly white SUV that struck the pedestrian and fled the scene.
The September 7 crash also shut down the northbound lanes of South Apopka-Vineland Road at Palm Parkway, prompting Florida Highway Patrol troopers to advise drivers to detour onto World Center Drive while they investigated, as Hoodline previously reported in its piece on the deadly crash near Disney. Back in December 2023, a 32-year-old female motorcyclist died after losing control and striking a curb on eastbound Palm Parkway near the same intersection.
Officials Have Flagged the Area for Safety Upgrades
Orange County transportation planners have already designated the segment of State Road 535 connecting to South Apopka-Vineland Road as a priority Safety Corridor, per that same Hoodline report. The Florida Department of Transportation also launched a design-build interchange improvement project at I-4 and Apopka-Vineland Road in fall 2023, with completion targeted for 2027.
The corridor's troubles fit into a broader statewide pattern. Orange County recorded 25,261 total traffic crashes and 155 fatal crashes in 2025, while Florida as a whole logged 381,210 total traffic crashes and 3,184 fatalities in 2024. No information has been released about citations, arrests, or an active investigation tied to Friday's fire, and it is not yet known whether the crash will factor into ongoing safety planning for the corridor.
