Thick black smoke darkened the sky above a busy Chula Vista street Tuesday morning when an apparent engine fire destroyed a recreational vehicle.
The restored RV was both home and a recording studio for a local musician whose stage name is Randal Wariner.
Wariner was driving the RV when the fire started.
“Getting ready to turn onto Broadway, and it just blew like a bomb,” he told NBC 7. “A big explosion. I mean, loud. It rung my ears."
One witness said he heard at least two explosions from the fire.
Wariner stopped the RV and tried to put out the growing flames with a blanket.
“And at that time, flames flew out everywhere,” he said. “The flames had wrapped around me, higher than me.”
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Wariner ran from the RV and watched it burn.
“That’s a big loss. I put a lot of work into that,” Wariner told NBC 7, choking up. “That’s my home, my studio, my guitars – I can’t replace my guitars.”
The Chula Vista Fire Department arrived on scene at Broadway and Halsey Street at approximately 11:25 a.m., according to Deputy Chief Harry Muns.
Crews fully extinguished the fire in six minutes, Muns said.
CVFD and Wariner don't know yet what caused the fire.
“Mechanically, we thought we were all there,” Wariner said about the repaired RV. “It was running beautifully.”
He said he had just left a nearby AutoZone with some new parts when the fire erupted.
No structures were threatened, Muns said, but a nearby palm tree caught fire, and a portion of an awning on a restaurant melted.
One firefighter could be seen sitting on the ground, aiming a hose directly up at at the palm tree to make sure the flames were out.
Wariner said his RV was full of guitars, recording equipment, and computers.
Muns said officials searched the wreckage twice and the damage was extensive.
No injuries were reported.
