A fire destroyed a trailer carrying a race car in National City Thursday afternoon, and a fire investigator said the blaze was started when a spare battery fell against fuel containers.
A thick plume of black smoke could be seen as the flames burned the 20-foot-long trailer and the car inside, a 1992 Honda Civic modified to be a racing car with a bloated engine and roll cage, National Town Battalion Chief Robert said. Hernandez.
The fire was reported shortly after 12:50 p.m. in a parking lot on West 22nd Street near Hoover Avenue.
Hernandez said the driver was exiting the freeway when he noticed smoke coming from the front of the trailer. As the driver pulled up to a vacant lot, flames erupted from the trailer.
The driver disconnected the vehicle towing the trailer, then grabbed a fire extinguisher and attempted to extinguish the fire. He suffered slight smoke inhalation but did not require medical attention, Hernandez said.
No one else was injured.
“The entire trailer and vehicle are a complete loss,” said the battalion commander. An estimate of the damage was not immediately available.
The cause of the fire was believed to have been electrical, caused when a battery stored in the trailer loosened, tipped over and fell against containers of racing fuel, Hernandez said.
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