Sumpter, Augusta FDs put out 14 blazing cars at auto auction lot

At 2:35 a.m. on Wednesday, June 15, Sumpter Township Fire Department was dispatched to Insurance Auto Auction, 8251 Rawsonville Rd., on reports of a fire near the rear of the building.
Fire Chief Rick Brown said upon arrival, as many as 14 vehicles were fully involved. With the assistance of Augusta Township Fire Department, for its water tanker and six personnel, and the staff at Insurance Auto Auction, with its heavy equipment to create a fire break, fire fighters managed to extinguish the fire in approximately three hours with no injuries to anyone involved.
Chief Brown said this is the second fire at the Auto Auction within six months. The earlier one was on Jan. 9 and it took four hours to extinguish the fire with 25 vehicles lost.
He said a surveillance video of the car lot on June 15 shows one vehicle’s electrical system shorting out at 2:06 a.m. and then the fire traveling to other vehicles since they are parked so close together.
He said his crew of seven responded to the blaze within seven to eight minutes.