Junkyard fire damages multiple vehicles, no injuries reported

CALLAWAY COUNTY, Mo. (KMIZ)

A fire at a junkyard spread to more than a dozen vehicles Tuesday afternoon, though no injuries were reported by the time firefighters finished at the scene.

The fire started shortly before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 2000 block of Old Highway 40 in Callaway County. North Callaway Fire Protection District Chief Matt Walton said two cars caught fire, seemingly due to an electrical issue in one of them. The fire spread, damaging 17 vehicles.

"For this one, probably electrical out of the vehicles but there's far too much damage for us to be able to tell," Walton told ABC 17 News.

Walton said his crews had challenges getting to the fire to fight it because of mud in the junkyard and several rows of cars separating firefighters from the fire.

"Mud and access and just the number of vehicles. There are four rows of vehicles spead between the vehicles [on fire]," Walton said. "We've been out here before for about the same thing so this is a repeat. About once a year, we have fires out here."

Crews got the fire under control and left the scene just over two hours after the first call went out.