Imperial County crews extinguish fire at salvage yard
YFD sends engine and water tender to assist at scene
Firefighters from the Imperial County Fire Department quickly extinguished a motorhome fire that was burning in an auto salvage yard in Winterhaven Wednesday morning.
Battalion Chief Angel Morales said that around 10 a.m. they received a report that a junked motorhome and several junked cars were on fire at Shipps Auto Salvage, located in the 2200 block of Winterhaven Drive.
“The motorhome was fully involved in flames when firefighters got there,” Morales said.
Firefighters worked fast to get control of the fire and had it out within about 10 minutes. Morales said because the fire had the potential to spread quickly, he requested mutual aid from the Yuma Fire Department, which sent an engine and a water tender to the scene.
“They came and assisted us with manpower and water,” Morales said. “There are a lot of other junked vehicles nearby, and our concern was that the fire could have spread.”
The fire was contained to a very small area of the junkyard, which provides car parts or scrap metal to its customers.
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, Morales said it is likely that it was accidental.
“The story we got was that some workers were doing some cutting in the area when they noticed a fire,” Morales said.