Vehicles damaged by fire at apartment complex near El Cajon

— An electrical problem in a pickup sparked a fire early Sunday morning that destroyed it and two other cars and damaged three other vehicles, a fire official said.

The fire, about 2:15 a.m., was made worse because most of the cars were parked under a carport, which directed the heat and flames back down onto other cars, said Andy Menshek, battalion chief with the San Miguel Fire Department.

The carport then fell on the five cars parked at an apartment complex on Graves Avenue near Greenfield Drive, just north of El Cajon.

The two cars parked on either side of the pickup were destroyed, and two more cars parked one space away on both sides of the pickup were also damaged. A sixth car across the way was hit by an exploding can of spray paint from the pickup.

Menshek estimated the damage at $40,000.


