20 cars burned in Salinas warehouse fire

UPDATE 2/24/2019 7:09 p.m. A massive fire ripped through a Salinas warehouse, destroying it from the inside out, as part of the building collapsed. The blaze was so large, smoke was seen as far away as Castroville. It happened just after midnight, Sunday.

People in the camp nearby South Sanborn said they were the first to see this rapidly growing fire. “I just called 911 because I didn’t know if anybody was in there or what was going on. It got pretty big pretty fast,” said Deena Marie Long, who lives nearby.

Every single Salinas fire unit battled the flames for two hours. The building, which stood strong for over 70 years, was home to as many as 20 classic cars, all of which were destroyed.

“The building was leased to an individual that had several classic cars, or project cars. A lot of parts, a lot of tires, a lot of cars, in various states of repair and disrepair,” said Salinas Fire Chief, Sam Klemek.

I learned the building’s owner is an Arizona man, who will be coming back into town for the investigation.

People who live nearby, said the fire was one of the first times they’ve seen any activity in, or around, the warehouse. “I’ve never seen anybody in there. It’s been abandoned every since then, until all the sudden, the last few days,” said Long.

Salinas Fire has already started investigating the cause, and what may have happened leading up to it.

“We’ll be checking witnesses in the area. A lot of people are down in this area. It’s frequented by the homeless population, living along the railroad. There’s a lot of people to talk to, a lot of people to interview,” said Chief Klemek.

The camp lies just a few hundred feet behind the torched warehouse. Salinas fire said they will work to stabilize the building before continuing the investigation.

UPDATE 2/24/2019 10:45 a.m. As many as 20 cars burned inside a large commercial warehouse during a 2-alarm fire.

It started late Saturday night on the 1000 block of Industrial Street and was initially called in as a smoke investigation. When crews arrived, they called for a structure fire response.

It took Salinas Fire one hour and 6 engines to get it under control, and it only affected that building, but crews were there through Sunday morning cleaning it up.

The cars inside belonged to an owner and renter, but luckily nobody was in the building when it happened and there were no injuries.

Salinas Fire does not know the cause, but will continue investigating if the owner decides to persue it further.

PREVIOUS STORY: The Salinas Fire Department is fighting a large structure fire in Salinas, early Sunday morning.

KION’s Dann Cianca was on the scene, where what appears to be a warehouse was burning on Industrial Street near South Sanborn Road. The building appears to be heavily damaged. The smoke was seen as far away as Castroville.

KION has reached out to the Salinas Fire Department for more information.

This is a developing story.