Big Fire Consumes Multiple Cars in Hermiston Wrecking Yard

Fire investigators are still searching for the cause of a fire that torched several vehicles in a Hermiston car lot on Monday.

 Several cars on fire in the wrecking yard when crews arrive

Around 12:36 PM, Umatilla County Fire District 1 responded to Bert's Auto Savage, located on Baggot Lane north of Hermiston near Highway 395, and when they arrived, found several cars on fire.

A large plume of black smoke was seen for several hours as crews worked to put out each vehicle. Some of them were lifted off the ground with a large lift machine, so they could be blasted with water to put out the fire.

Finally, around 3:27 PM,  Umatilla Fire declared the fires were out and the situation was under control. Most of the crews were released, and a few firefighters remained to monitor any hot spots. Crews from Echo and the Umatilla Rural Fire Protection District also aided in the effort.

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Officials have not said what triggered the fires, the vehicles were in the salvage portion of the lot when they went up in smoke.