Fire Destroys 12 Cars in Huntington Beach

HUNTINGTON BEACH — Fire ravaged a carport early Friday, destroying at least a dozen cars and causing $400,000 in damage.

The fire is being considered “suspicious” and is under investigation.

“We have no leads, we have nothing unless somebody comes up and admits to something,” said fire investigator Bob Brown.

Brown said any evidence of arson would have been obscured by gas leaking out of the cars’ ruptured tanks. But since the last car to arrive at the carport Thursday night parked at 9:30 p.m., more than four hours before the blaze began, an accident seems unlikely.

The fire started at about 1:49 a.m. Friday at the north end of the carport at 19162 Huntington Street and quickly spread in all directions, engulfing about three-quarters of the 200-foot carport. The flames also destroyed a fence and broke windows in one of the two Huntington Manor apartment buildings that flank the carport.

Only two of the 29 vehicles parked at the carport were spared serious damage, Brown said, adding that about half the cars were totaled in the fire. No one was injured.