The smell of gas still fills the air in the storage lot of Tomball Towing and Storage, days after a large fire destroyed at least 10 cars and damaged several more.
"There was stuff exploding the entire time we were fighting the fire," Tomball Fire Chief Randy Parr said. "Gas tanks, tires, shock absorbers. There was magnesium in one of the engine blocks and when you hit magnesium with water it just causes the flames to roar."
The fire started around 4:30 a.m. Oct. 30. While the cause is still under investigation by Harris County Fire Marshals, proof of arson still lies everywhere. Several cars had windows busted out and their insides were doused with gasoline, but were spared from the blaze.
Once Tomball Fire Department (TFD) firefighters reached the scene it look less than an hour to knock out the fire, according to Parr.
"Once we got through the gate it took us about a half-hour to three-quarters of an hour to knock it down," he said.
The lot serves as a storage lot for wrecked and damaged cars, as well as cars impounded by law enforcement.
"(The TFD) did a wonderful job," Randy Schmidt, owner of Tomball Towing and Storage said. "The response time and how quick they contained it was amazing. It could have been a lot worse. We could have easily lost 100 cars."
Officials from the Harris County Fire Marshal's office are still investigating the blaze.
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