Murrieta tow yard blaze destroys a dozen or more vehicles (CA)

[TowNews]

MURRIETA — Fire and police officials are investigating a destructive blaze that ripped through a Murrieta tow yard early this morning, Sunday, Feb. 3. The fast moving fire left more than a dozen cars destroyed or heavily damaged at United Towing Service, in the 26000 block of Adams Avenue, on the city’s south end.

 

City of Murrieta Fire and Police Departments, along with other emergency personnel, were dispatched to the tow yard shortly after 4 a.m., after receiving reports of a large and growing car fire.

 

When officials arrived they confirmed finding numerous vehicles fully engulfed in flames and reported that the blaze was spreading to nearby cars, as well as area trees and vegetation.

 

Firefighters used multiple hose lines and began an aggressive attack on the fire, which they reportedly contained within twenty minutes of their arrival. Once firefighters had knocked down the blaze they confirmed that as many as a dozen vehicles were destroyed, with several more damaged from the intense flames, heat, and smoke.

 

Murrieta’s Fire Marshall and an arson investigator responded to the scene to help investigate the cause of the fire, which has not yet been determined and is still under investigation.

 

RESOURCE LINK with multiple images

 

[someotherplace]

Would not be surprised one bit if it started from a wrecked vehicle.

 

When I first got into the business and was working for my dad, whenever we brought wrecks in we would disconnect the battery cable specifically to avoid the possibility of fires.

 

These days in all the lots I drop at, I never see this done and it honestly surprises me.  I see hard hits with battery obviously still connected - flashers, headlights still on...

 

Richard

[rreschran]

Like Richard mentioned, we too have policy to disconnect a vehicle's battery, if that can be  easily done based on the wrecked vehicles' damage. The second part of our policy is; all wrecked vehicles are parked in a dedicated staging area far removed from office and building spaces and away from other vehicles. Vehicle fires can occur if Ebrakes weren't release, if a smodering flare was tossed into the vehicle's interior by the tower during site cleanup, or if a vehicle's tire was parked close to burning flares. If there's room in the tow yard, wrecks should be parked by themselves until moved into general population by the next day driver(s) or the yard personnel.     R.