A mid-morning fire tore through rows of vehicles at a Rio Linda salvage yard on Wednesday, scorching about 15 cars and trucks and sending a thick column of smoke over nearby neighborhoods. Fire crews moved fast and kept the flames boxed inside the yard, and authorities said no one was hurt as investigators began sorting out what sparked the blaze.
Metro Fire crews were dispatched around 10:14 a.m. to reports of multiple vehicles burning in the 6200 block of Blacktop Road, according to The Sacramento Bee. Firefighters from the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District and the Sacramento Fire Department used an aggressive attack to knock down the flames and limit damage to roughly 15 vehicles. Capt. Mark Nunez, a Metro Fire spokesperson, said hazardous-materials personnel were called in to check for environmental problems.
Sacramento County Hazardous Materials teams were still on scene around noon, monitoring for potential risks after officials said two of the burned vehicles were electric, as reported by KCRA 3 News. Fire officials said the presence of battery-powered vehicles made both containment and cleanup more complicated, and the cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Electric Vehicles Add New Hazards for Fire Crews
Firefighters warn that high-voltage lithium-ion battery packs can enter thermal runaway when they are damaged, producing intense heat, toxic gases and a risk of the fire flaring back up, conditions that can stretch an incident and demand a specialized response. Metro Fire delivered that warning in comments relayed by The Sacramento Bee, and recent research published in Fire Technology finds that battery fires often burn longer and hit higher peak heat release rates than standard vehicle fires.
Cleanup and monitoring by hazardous-materials teams continued into midday as investigators worked to determine what started the blaze, authorities said. Officials have not released additional details while the investigation continues, and KCRA 3 News has more on the scene and the ongoing response.
