Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009

Scrapyard blaze that torched 31 vehicles investigated

By Paula Horton, Herald staff writer

FINLEY -- The two-alarm fire that burned 31 scrapped vehicles in a Finley salvage yard is being considered suspicious but the cause is still unknown, fire officials said.

It took firefighters from Benton Fire District 1 and Kennewick Fire Department about four hours Tuesday morning to contain the fire at Big Toe Auto Salvage, said Division Chief Mike Harris.

Crews received the first call at 1:30 a.m. about a fire in the area of the nearby truck stop, Harris said. A second caller from the truck stop then called in and said about 10 vehicles were on fire at Big Toe, he said. The first crews on scene reported 10 to 20 vehicles ablaze.

Twenty firefighters from the fire district and one fire engine from Kennewick responded.

"We were kind of hampered by an access gate, and of course they had to move a few cars out of the way so we could get an engine in there," Harris said. "We had to lay quite a bit of (fire) hose to get in to where we could start fighting the fire."

There was no wind and no concern that the fire would spread beyond the 31 cars that were burning, he said.

Crews were there most of the morning, with the last engine leaving about seven hours later after watching to make sure no hot spots ignited, Harris said.

Damage was minimal because the vehicles that burned were essentially junk vehicles that were being used for parts or scrap metal, he said.

No one was hurt.

The fire is being considered suspicious because there was no work being done in the area at the time to spark a blaze, Harris said.

There also is no known connection between this morning's fire and the weekend blaze at Pacific Recycling on Chemical Drive. It appears to be "just coincidence" that two fires started at two separate scrap yards within a week, he said.

The cause will be listed as unknown unless somebody comes forward with information about what happened. Witnesses can call fire officials at 737-0911.

-- Paula Horton: 582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com