SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) - Firefighters knocked down a blaze at a car wash in the College area on Saturday.
A call came in just before 8 a.m. reporting a fire near the intersection of El Cajon Boulevard and 69th Street, according to San Diego Fire- Rescue spokesman Jose Ysea. B & H Self-Services Car Wash is at that location.
Witnesses say a worker and customer tried to stop the flames from spreading before the fire department was able to get there.
Crews were at the scene within five minutes and found a fire in a storage area on the roof of the building, Ysea said. They were able to douse the fire within about 10 minutes.
Authorities believe the fire started with debris on the roof and called out arson investigators.
Battalion Chief, Brian Raines, said, "It is not normal to store things on the roof, but at this point we are trying to figure out what is up there and why it is up there."
William Johnson was near the car wash when it went up in flames. He said he heard booms going off on the roof making him think there were "propane tanks on the roof because it sounded like Beirut a bit."
Johnson thinks the items that burned belong to a man who works at the car was and also lives on the roof.
Firefighters say the car wash was badly damaged, especially the roof, but they did not have an estimate for the cost.
