Explosion Sparks Large Fire That Destroys Dozens Of Vintage Cars
WELD COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) – An explosion is being blamed for destroying nearly 70 restored classic cars in a large structure fire Wednesday morning in Weld County. Firefighters are still trying to figure out what caused the blast and fire.
Broomfield police officers evacuated two homes with exposure to the fire near Weld County Road 7 and Highway 7. The fire has been contained but firefighters worked over several hours to fully extinguish the blaze.
"Right now that area is so consumed it's hard to tell where it would have started and where it would have spread," Sarah Farris with North Metro Fire said. "We're still working to get all of that information."
Flames charred more than 60 rare, restored 1950s-era Cadillacs worth millions.
"It's terrible. It's a great loss. These cars, most of them were basically completely finished," said witness Kevin Arrick.
A man working on the property heard an explosion just before 9 a.m. and then the fire broke out. Authorities still don't know what caused the explosion, but they know the fire destroyed a mobile home on the property and then spread to an old chicken coup that had been converted to a barn.
"It's an old chicken barn, and it spread on down there pretty fast," witness Dan Arrick said.
"I looked outside my garage and we see black smoke, we jumped on the four-wheeler and my brother jumped on his Blazer," said Kevin Arrick.
CBS4 was told each car was worth between $100,000 to $200,000. The rarest that was destroyed was a 1958 Cadillac that had been restored to its prime.
The man who owned the classic cars had recently made deals to sell some of the vehicles.
Firefighters have responded to at least three explosions in the area over the past week. Arson investigators are trying to figure out if there is a connection between the most recent explosion and others.
No injuries have been reported.