Firefighters were called to battle a fire at their own station in Lakeside Friday that caused about $600,000 in damage.
Crews smelled smoke at Lakeside Fire District's (LFD) station in the 14000 block of Highway 8 Business at about 1 p.m., LFD Division Chief John Hisaw said. Firefighters went outside and found one of their fire trucks in flames.
A full response was called to fight the fire, including four fire trucks, two chiefs, a medic and several San Diego County Sheriff's (SDSO) deputies.
The fire was stopped before it could spread to the firehouse and no one was injured, but the 5-year-old truck was destroyed.
"It appears to be a total loss," Hisaw told NBC 7.
The fire truck, valued at about $600,000, was in the station's repair shop for routine maintenance at the time of the fire, Hisaw said. It's a total loss, but LFD did have insurance on the engine.
Each of LFD's four fire stations has a reserve engine so response times should not be affected by the loss, LFD said.
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The LFD said that the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
The deputy chief recalled one other time firefighters were called to battle a fire at a fire station. In that instance, a paramedic truck caught fire due to a battery charger, Hisaw said.
The cause of Friday's fire was not yet known. An SDSO bomb arson team was called to investigate.
