San Diego sightseeing tour company devastated after fire destroys 95% of its vehicles

LOS ANGELES — A sightseeing tour company in San Diego is having to hit the brakes on rentals after about 30 of its vehicles, including several powered by lithium-ion batteries, went up in flames Thursday night, authorities said.

Firefighters responded to the blaze at GoCar Tours at 9:22 p.m., according to San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokesperson Mónica Muñoz. They quickly extinguished the fire in the back of a single-story commercial building and called in a hazmat team, she said.

The team helped move the remnants of the battery-powered GoCars to a safe area of the parking lot so they could be properly removed by a hazardous materials contractor, said Battalion Chief Robert Rezende, an expert in lithium-ion battery fires and the region's first alternative-energy emergency response coordinator.

Lithium-ion battery fires have the potential to be extremely dangerous as they emit hazardous gases and can burn for hours or even days.

In this case, the fire was quickly extinguished and it's unclear whether the batteries were damaged, Rezende said.

Chris Boone, the owner of GoCar Tours San Diego, said six electric vehicles were among those destroyed.

"I haven't slept, it's horrible," he said. "We lost 95% of our cars in the fire."

Although the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, Battalion Chief Chad Willenberg told NBC 7 on Thursday night that it could have been the result of overcharging the batteries. Boone, however, said it does not appear that any of the lithium-ion batteries caught fire.

Rezende told The Times on Friday that it's possible the gasoline-powered vehicles started the fire, which then spread to the EVs.

"Requirements for electric vehicle safety standards are very, very high," he said. "Electric vehicles are statistically less likely to catch fire spontaneously than an internal combustion engine vehicle."

It's also possible one of the electric batteries was damaged in a collision that a customer failed to report and that the battery later failed, sparking the blaze, he said. Because the fire was ruled an accident, the Fire-Rescue Department will not be investigating the incident further and it will be up to the company's insurer to determine the cause.

Boone said he's looking into hiring an investigator but is not sure it will be financially feasible. He estimated that the blaze caused $350,000 in damage and said he fears that insurance will not cover those costs as the fire took place in a parking lot, not inside a building.

He first brought the three-wheel cars to San Diego in 2005 and said they've been a huge hit. Tourists love using the mini vehicles, which run on a 49cc scooter engine, to explore the city, he said.

On Friday, he drove up to Las Vegas to pick up additional vehicles from another GoCar Tours site. He hopes to use these vehicles to fulfill existing San Diego reservations and "keep the smiles on our customers' faces." However, he's not able to accept new bookings for now.