Grass Fire Spreads to Salvage Yard in Kennedale

It took firefighters from Arlington and Kennedale about two hours to contain a massive fire that burned dozens of cars in a salvage yard.

About 100 cars went up in flames Thursday afternoon as a massive fire ripped through a Tarrant County salvage yard.

"Once it spread over to the junk yard, just huge plumes of black smoke in the sky, just all the way up," said Lorin Zaumseil, who lives across the street from the fire and called 911.

A black plume of smoke could be seen from miles away, and loud explosions could be heard coming from AllStar Import and American Auto Parts in the 7700 block of Mansfield Cardinal Road, near the Kennedale-Arlington city line.

It took fire departments from both Arlington and Kennedale nearly two hours to contain the blaze.

"This was a relatively difficult manpower-intensive fire," said Battalion Chief Jim Silveus, with the Arlington Fire Department. "Access was very difficult. We were limited getting these brush trucks inside. [They are] pickup truck-size vehicles."

Rows of cars stacked on top of each other in the salvage yard made fighting the fire even more difficult for crews.

"It would spread from one vehicle to the next," said Silveus. "And if there is a vehicle on top of it, then it spread to not just one vehicle, but two."

Still, fire investigators don't know the cause of the fire or where it started.

Zaumseil is thankful the smoke did not travel toward her home where she was taking care of her newborn baby.

"If I had to get out of here quick, it was going to be kind of hard," said Zaumseil. "I was here by myself."

Dehydration was a concern for firefighters, but no injuries were reported.

NBC 5's Holley Ford contributed to this report.

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