SAN DIEGO — Thick black smoke shot up high around 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning on Robinson Avenue and Georgia Street in North Park. San Diego Fire Crews rushed to put out flames on three cars burning in the bottom level parking structure of the Horizon House apartment building.
Firefighters sawed off the iron gate garage door to get inside. And once they got in, they saw a completely burned Red KIA Soul. Toyota Prius, and a White Mitsubishi. One of the cars belonged to Iris Delaney.
"We did hear the tires explode, it sounded like a cannon, it went boom, boom, boom, boom,” Delaney said.
Delaney was on her way to get a rental car with her friend and neighbor picking her up. The interior of each car is charred, the windows cracked, and the hood and seats were blackened and burned down to the frame. Residents want to know, how did these three cars catch on fire?
"We don't know yet, they don't know whether it was arson or, really something just could've blown up in the garage. They don't know what it was,” said Delaney, a North Park resident of 34 years.
As fire crews quickly put on the fire, everyone inside the three-story apartments had to evacuate in the middle of the night.
"We just stood out there and watched the fire folks do their job, and they did a great job,” Delaney said.
Joe Addonizio and his wife were scared the fire would reach their home of 22 years next door.
"I told the fire department, I thanked them for putting it out because if our house caught on fire, we would have been trapped inside, and we would've been a statistic,” Addonizio said.
Addonizio says it's rumored that one of the car batteries may have sparked the fire, but investigators have not released a cause.
"It was hot in there, I plumb for living, and for it to get hot enough to make the waterlines leak, it was pretty hot, and I can’t even make those water lines leak with my torch,” Addonizio said.
Despite the loss of her car, Delaney isn't worried. She and foster dog Dolly are glad no one was hurt.
"You know what I mean, I've got good insurance, so Heather, I am ok,” Delaney said.
Addonizio said it could've been horrible had any more time passed.
“Thank God, somebody was looking out for us and for everybody,” Addonizio said.