Three-Alarm Massive Junkyard Fire | San Diego

10.16.2021 | 12:00 PM | OTAY MESA - A fire of unknown cause broke out in the back portion of the Stevens Towing Yard and spread quickly.
This area has limited water lines and the firefighters ran out of water quickly.
The entire yard is full of junk cars and is being destroyed.
Many large explosions are happening.
A Strike Team was called in.
Embers have started 2 spot fires in the field on the other side of the road and had to be put out.
Employees and residents were getting in the way of the firefighting efforts and refusing to evacuate and clogging the one entrance and running over fire hoses trying to save their vehicles.
1 structure is believed to have been damaged..
3 homes are in danger.
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[@scaleroadbuilders3449]

Seems like a real nightmare scene having to stretch all that line through rows of junk cars. Props to all of the first responders involved!

[@aPoLlO11140]

I feel like this is a perfect example of a call that is absolute chaos for IC. Rate of spread, fuel load, wind, spot fires with potential to run, threat to homes and property, civilians everywhere, civs trying to save stuff and compromising the scene, civs running over hoses over and over again, NO WATER, coordinating air support....all the good stuff

[@hectorescalona8945]

Que inetitud Dan pena

[@chriskeller4613]

Damn watching that mustang go up in smoke broke my heart. Also the poor owner of this buisness. My prayers are with the family or families who lived and worked there

[@thisisme3238]

I feel so sorry for the owner of this business...watching his livelihood literally "going up in smoke." Hope he had insurance on this business! ☹️

[@KrK007]

I'm sure they had insurance, but there's no way it'll cover the losses to all that inventory. A lot of those cars were clearly insurance auctioned vehicles for parts and repairing, etc so the way that'll work is they'll give you what you paid for it at auction when you bought it. If you don't have meticulous records (or if they were destroyed in the fire) it's like those parts didn't even exist. This is going to be an insurance adjuster's nightmare and it's unlikely that anybody is going to be happy with the results.

[@jt8251]

I feel a lot sorrier for the residents in and around this fire. You can see how desperate they are to get their only valuable assets (e.g. cars) away from the fire. I'm fairly certain those people don't have any insurance to cover those losses.

[@RLTtizME]

@@KrK007 Your valuation is a wild-ass guess it appears. Read the damn policy. It will tell you how it is to be valued.

[@KrK007]

@@RLTtizME Gee, I don't have their insurance policy in front of me, for some strange reason, but thanks for your "helpful" unsolicited advice. 🙄

[@RLTtizME]

@@KrK007 My advice is far better than the bilge you fabricate and blow out your south end. Stop making stuff up.

[@angyr2902]

Hope everyone is safe.🙏🙏

[@LtD973]

I’m guessing lack of water during the early stages allowed the rapid fire growth and spread. Real Shame. So Sad to see someone’s livelihood and Buisness being destroyed!

[@kj3rd2657]

SEE! This is why you city's and states should always take care of your fire departments needs! So they can take care of you in times like this!

[@just2reluctant]

The Best of ONSCENE TV

[@lindahoff7391]

No one should be operating at this incident without SCBA. This is a haz mat incident, both air born and run off.

[@nc818]

Not to mention it’s being filmed downwind wtf

[@andypressley4702]

Amen to that

[@lahotboy]

that WIND WAS A BEAST! all I see is fireman walking around it looks like they gave up on trying to save the property... it became a containment from arrival ! smh

[@georgecoons6872]

Where's the Chicago FD mutual aid.

[@alvelasquez7157]

You can have the latest and best apparatus and equipment, stellar firefighers, top IC but none of it matters without WATER.. It's like a football game with the best players and coaches but no football.

[@Jewelkraft.]

This is one massive fire.. great footage

[@teribejarano]

You got some amazing shots of this horrible fire!

[@stopit6847]

Crazy. It looks massive

[@mkbarber65]

Hopefully all those fire fighters were safe. That was one awful blaze to fight with the wind spreading it so quickly plus the massive fuel load

[@butthole4exitonlymohamond779]

it not just wind, it could have been no wind, a big fire can make it windy , all that heat trying to escape, so it move around fast making it look like a windy day!

[@miguelangelgonzalez9060]

Y DONDE EDTSN LOS BOMBEROS,.

[@masterhacker7065]

@@butthole4exitonlymohamond779 Not only that but the fire sucks in major massive amounts of air the larger it gets. They said in the Tokyo fires in WW2 that there were winds as high as 100MPH down some streets as the fires were just sucking in huge amounts of air.

[@larryandersen681]

I feel for the people near that. How scary that must have been.

[@TheWaynelds]

And the smell was probably really bad too. I’ll bet it lingered long after the fire was out.

[@daewooparts]

What sort of a clown show is this, that Fire Department doesn't show up with the ability to put water on the fire 🤣

[@SapphirasMama]

I wonder how many didn't read the description and know that they didn't have access to water. Read the description before commenting about water. Oh and I can see that the residents were also running over the hoses

[@angyr2902]

Looks very mad fire.

[@lisabloemers4084]

Those poor firemen sure have had to endure so much bc of others but I am sure that carelessness caused this to happen as with so many other fires going on but I am praying heavily for the young firemen and that God protects them as it's not their fault!

[@Kevin19700]

A “perfect storm” of ingredients for a dangerous fire. A windy day and all the old tires, oil, gas and other combustibles just waiting to explode.

[@RLTtizME]

What are they gonna do when there is no more water?

[@jurgenkuhlmann9194]

There is nothing nastier than junkyard / recycling park fires. I would not like to stand in the shoes of one of the firemen who have to put that out! Honestly!

[@jurgenkuhlmann9194]

@@RLTtizME Maybe wait for tanker trucks & foam units - because foam is what you need to get this mess under control, isn't it? In Germany these trucks are called TLF (for T ank L ösch F ahrzeug), I'm sure fire units in the US have them, too.

[@ethanmcdowell9677]

Kalifornia: We're going to ban gasoline powered lawnmowers, chainsaws, and trimmers because of the pollution. San Diego: Hold my beer.....

[@OrangeCountyRails]

Woah it looks like a tornado 🌪!

[@ZEPRATGERNODT]

$100 bucks says someone was living on the premises in a motor home, trailer or van. Seen it before…painful to watch some other those older vehicles get burned up, like that mustang.

[@texandy89]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing about the mustang

[@johnmccartan939]

Stupid Mustang 🔥🔥😂

[@robertschwartzman195]

That 1965 Mustang convertible burning up.

[@akirk1573]

I think the FD talked to the owner, conversed with the lawyer of the lot owner and, weighing risk/benefit, both parties agreed : insurance fraud is the way to go.

[@studio1purnamachanel]

thank you friends greetings from Indonesia..the citizens like to help each other the same as in Indonesia..always be careful friends

[@betobeto5803]

Esses caras sao verdadeiros herois, acho que nao é facil acabar com um fogo de tao grande proporçao...Terrivel!

[@A_Just.OK_Gamer]

How does a big city fire department go to a fire and then have no water???? "Let the fire come to us"???? Seriously?? "Ran out of water quickly"?? For the first 17 minutes, I didn't see ANY water being sprayed. As a retired firefighter, this is embarrassing.

[@chrisfrom8585]

Its in a rural part of the city, basically on the same road with the border wall. Blame the city for no water supply not the department.

[@josephs8364]

It’s Cali. They don’t have water cuz they use it on lawns lol

[@Bama1963]

Looks to me like the FF’s were doing the best they could with what they were given to work with, the city government should be embarrassed for not having adequate water supply within the city limits. But they won’t be, they’ll probably fine the owner for air pollution.

[@USMC1984]

I was thinking the same thing Kevin, I live in very rural country, every fire department around has at least a 3000 gallon tanker and a mutual aid with each other, it may take a little bit but there will be water.

[@A_Just.OK_Gamer]

@@chrisfrom8585 That's not an excuse. The volunteer department I ran with, over 20 years ago, was for a town of roughly 1000 people. We had 2 engines with 1000 and 1500 gallons of water each, 1 3000 gallon tanker and a 500 gallon grass rig. We didn't need a water supply to get started on fighting the fire. If the engine they had didn't have it's own water tank on board, that's not the city's fault, that's the fault of whoever designed the truck.....the fire department. And I can guarantee you that this departments budget was at least 10x the budget of our little department, that only had about 20 firefighters, all volunteers.

[@pmelshearn5482]

The absolute worst sounds that I hear are from the firefighters SCBA alarms going off. Especially with all the black smoke...😰

[@sylvesterstewart868]

That must smell amazing.

[@thisisme3238]

Me either!

[@RLTtizME]

Some say it resembles Jack In The Box at dinner time.

[@Bill-sp8kb]

Has the "lovely" aroma of burning hydrocarbons. 🔥💥

[@antonisanchezgarrigo9222]

Pocas veces en mi carrera he visto tanta incompetencia, pasividad y desgana para atacar un fuego ! Dicen que faltaba agua cuando en las imágenes se aprecian mangueras con presión suficiente. Hay un baile de bomberos paseando arriba y abajo con mangueras vacías, entre los coches, sin establecer un punto de ataque. Los oficiales y jefes de batallón hablan mucho por el walkietalkie y se tocan los cojones en lugar de dirigir. Nadie piensa en establecer una maniobra de espuma. No se establece una rueda de tankers para traer agua. Y los helicópteros riegan el pasto en lugar de atacar el fuego y de proteger las viviendas. Madre de Dios !!!

[@Brian13549]

Yeah the helicopter was used for the grass fires. And just because the hose looks like it had pressure in it doesn't me jack shit.

[@adamhenry5791]

Wild Call

[@nvs4u2]

Watching that pickup bed of fire hoses burn up while they are waiting to get more hose to water was a bummer.

[@brian5o]

That poor '64.5, '65 or '66 Red Mustang Convertible at 22:04. That is heartbreaking to see. It looked like a nice one, too.

[@USMC1984]

That’s the first car I would have saved 😢. The fire is bad but the loss of that classic was horrible to see.

[@robertschwartzman195]

I have owned so many mustangs in my life and seeing it get burnt and destroyed .are Mr cry.

[@darkside1473jd]

You mean to tell me after 15 minutes and the fire department watching damn near half of the junkyard burn up now y'all want to start moving cars🤣🤣🤣 but at the end of the day the fire is still burning

[@KRiiB78]

Wooowwww.

[@kenthompson5723]

Wind driven chaos. The poor firemen had a lot going against them. Good camera work in a difficult environment.

[@jimmurray9214]

I wish I was there with a pack of hot dogs and some marshmallows.

[@davidpulaski5628]

Good grief, this has to be a record holder. Very depressing.

[@TXARNGarmy100]

I couldn't watch it anymore that classic Mustang going up in smoke. OH, THE HORROR!

[@mustasheolll2020]

That was terrible

[@bigcountry5045]

it was a ford.... no big loss .... got what it needed to get !!!

[@johnmccartan939]

@@bigcountry5045 Stupid Mustang 🐎.🔥🔥

[@brian5o]

@@bigcountry5045 While you're entitled to your opinion, many, many people disagree with it. As someone who has owned a '65 Mustang coupe and '88 Mustang LX 5.0 X-Florida Highway Patrol car myself, I am one of them. That's okay though, you probably couldn't handle driving it anyways.

[@bigcountry5045]

what ever you want to think hoss , i owned a ford truck once... didnt do anything but break down on me, cost more money to keep it going than it was worth ! but i respect ones decision to drive what they want and take part in a friendly rivalry ! thanks for playing and be safe !

[@Tkmined]

This is a firefighting nightmare. Holy shit.

[@Clownler]

So whats the scoop on the water? Is there no hydrants here or is this just a sub par fd here?

[@edd.lombardo]

How do you do Onscene to be in that right at that moment? 🤔

[@michaelroberts1457]

This is why you should have a plan for everything in your city like what resource you need to fight the fire and water supply and everything else you need this was very uncoordinated

[@georgecoons6872]

Dan manion said he love san diego. Nice clean city. Nicer then bullhead city

[@markkutyni3337]

inefective

[@ignaciocarbonell9060]

Firemen NEEDS MORE TRAINING. THEY ARE VERY SHABBY

[@Brian13549]

Please explain. They had water issues.

[@seato412b]

@@Brian13549 they musta forgot fill the water tanks on da trucks.

[@gtown150]

You post good content. Thanks for getting good video.

[@uwe-paullorenz6163]

the fire is very well

[@jefferykeeper9034]

That makes the third junkyard fire I have heard about in the last two months.

[@thisisme3238]

Wow! Where were the other two and when were they?

[@jasonwilliams3223]

I guess next time they will make access lanes for fire trucks...

[@5.2litrecat45]

Apparently they only pay firefighter to watch the place burn.

[@rdety]

what a mess!...That Tower master Stream at 21 mins isn't doing a thing..too far up and the Water is just evaporating..wth?

[@avontaprice6296]

This is one crazy 🔥. the junk yard 🔥 is making it turned into a out of control wild 🔥.

[@nnickgray33]

That's one hell of an insurance payout rite there

[@alldayeveryday6464]

Nice piece of wood

[@ffditch]

It was tough watching that Mustang burn up!

[@vner]

What is the job of a firefighter??? Stay and watch the fire grow, and talk or fight the fire??

[@Brian13549]

In that are there are water issues. Not much they could have done

[@theflyingcandleguyme6144]

Just stand around watch everyone🙄

[@brian5o]

I'm really glad that "The Fall Guy" truck at 22:45 was saved.

[@AlonsoRules]

good luck putting that out quickly

[@em1osmurf]

setup to attack the fire: "NO WATER!" i'd be scared shitless, grabbing gear and evac. well done. excellent repeated suppression passes by the helo pilot. teamwork.

[@TheWaynelds]

It looks like a wedge tornado at certain times, especially at the beginning and again at 19:36.

[@pappybigbearUtqiagkia5840]

One way they get rid of tires and trash

[@redbug3696]

🌊🔥🌊.

[@gglegreff1858]

Ça fera du vide

[@kjack61]

I love comments from people who don’t have a damn clue about the job

[@JoshRousseu05]

what direction was the wind blowing at the time?

[@tomrogers9467]

From high pressure to low pressure. You’re welcome.

[@tracykingston9668]

@@tomrogers9467 So THAT'S how it works. Always wondered. Thanks mate.

[@gerrywelch360]

when you see these things you cant help thinking how much more pollution can our planet stand

[@kysike666]

Go hug a Tree

[@cooperparts]

I burn plastic on earth day

[@bobvidoni5898]

That is what landfills in many parts of Asia look like. Only way they have to get rid of mountains of garbage and they worry about us tossing plastic in the ocean.

[@tomrogers9467]

Don’t worry Nature has a plan. We’ll all be gone within a hundred years. Covid was just a test run.

[@abdullahali-vy3iw]

قوية

[@hrogers9325]

No water. Too late it's burnt out.

[@rodhard688]

A wall of flames

[@vintagedashboard6810]

That is very toxic

[@expat2010]

I wonder how it started...

[@kathymoran1616]

the hoses were charged with water why not on fire?

[@user-oc2qu3mk5y]

هذا يذكرني بالحادثه الحريق المجمع التي حدثت عندنا في العراق بصراحه ضحيتها شهداء اثنين من الدفاع المدني

[@darktoadone5068]

Dang, saw that classic Mustang in there.

[@haroldenglish943]

Title should be: Kommiefornia as a junk yard, doesn't completely burn, unfortunately.

[@abysspegasusgaming]

In a business like this, it would be CRITICAL to take the batteries out, if not, just disconnect the battery terminals. I speculate that this was likely a battery-started fire from either a battery that somehow shorted out. It could also be a hot engine from a fresh arrival, but battery related fires are much more common. It didn't help that the ones fleeing had to get in the way of things though...

[@2olvets443]

The administration may have done this to make sure parts could not be used for gas vehicles being they want them all gone.

[@daewooparts]

Makes you all warm & toasty watching this 🔥

[@davidcarroll829]

Foam seems to be causing bad health risks, but with damage leaking fluids from all these vehicles polluting the ground and foam might dissipate some of that !

[@Jacob-mm8xq]

Idk who was in charge here or what the hell happened but wtf

[@christopherpuffer6494]

HELL ON EARTH there. Holy cow.

[@Subaroutback]

Just sitting here in Maine still wondering what makes Californians think their state is worth anything...

[@rutherfordclan5693]

Propane tank?

[@erikj.2066]

In the beginning, it was something venting fuel. Propane tank, or maybe a tank for cutting torches. Regardless, wouldn't have wanted to stand where the guy shooting the video was when it was venting, since you couldn't even tell what it was, or how big it was.

[@boblawblaw6875]

Firenado

[@taneryilmaz8371]

what is the cause the fire is so widespread what is the cause

[@tracykingston9668]

Tires. Kalifornya is banning all tires next year. None allowed into state , forever.

[@robertschwartzman195]

Many of those cars with that white tag came from another junkyard that auctions cars all over the country. I have seen many of their auctions.

[@sircampbell1249]

Ca got some fire bugs ?

[@RG-cv6mu]

All the project cars 🥺

[@b789har]

Obama destroyed more cars with his "Cash For Clunkers" incentive

[@bobbymoss6160]

Junkyard or homeless encampment? Who the F knows anymore.

[@tomrogers9467]

Same thing.

[@woodworkinglessons3856]

That’s a lot of pollution.

[@kayleeorjadon9485]

Why did it take them so long to move the cars? The whole thing is so sad to watch.

[@TheModelShipwrightPaulLester]

Why so slow to get water flowing? 20 mins

[@gord1527]

Where will they take the junk from the junkyard fire?

[@thisisme3238]

Good question...

[@desertrat1357]

Straight to where they melt the cars down.

[@kmustacal]

Sanford & Son?

[@erikj.2066]

To the crusher to turn them into a cube to get scrapped.

[@chriscatarcio2983]

@@erikj.2066 they have to be shredded first crushing just makes it easier to get more on the truck. Sir.

[@FormWerkstoff]

If I had a beautiful detached house in such a warm region. Then the first thing I would do is build a hose (cheap) or water pipes around the house that are triggered in the event of a fire, but also Manuel when it is very warm. If possible also around the garden. Then water comes from all sides around the house. When the fire brigade starts, a switch comes with water around the house and property. Wenn ich in so einer warmen Region ein schönes freistehendes Einfamilienhaus hätte. Dann würde ich mir als erstes auch einen Schlauch (günstig) oder Wasserrohre um das Haus bauen die bei Brand ausgelöst werden aber auch Manuel wenn es sehr warm ist. Wenn möglich auch um der Garten. Dann kommt von allen Seiten um das Haus Wasser. In der Zeit wo die Feuerwehr losfährt kommt mit einen Schalter Wasser um das Haus und Grundstück.

[@matthewnewmann8555]

Gee telling old mate trying to save vehicles to be easy on hoses .?? At least he is doing something

[@garybburchill570]

got to feel sorry for those folk trying to run a business and have that happen.