Crime & Safety

Gas Station in the Heart of Elk Grove Goes Up in Flames

Nobody was hurt in the fire that ripped through the Shell station at the corner of Elk Grove Blvd and Elk Grove-Florin Road Tuesday, but most of the building was destroyed.

A giant plume of smoke emanated from the Shell station at Elk Grove Blvd and Elk Grove Florid Road around midday Tuesday, as firefighters rushed to put out a blaze that engulfed the building, causing major damage but no injuries.

The Cosumnes Fire Department was called to the scene about 11:40 a.m. and firefighters were still working to put out the remnants of the fire shortly after 2:00 p.m. Battalion Chief Sean Stumbaugh said the fire was an accident, caused when fuel ignited inside a car employees were working on in the attached auto body shop.

Station owner Dale Miles, who stood by surveying the damage, said workers were changing the fuel pump on the car when the fire erupted.

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"By the time my manager could get to the fire extinguisher, the flames had already gone up ten feet," he said. "Everybody ran for their safety and got out of there."

Miles, who has owned the station for 23 years and also owns two other Shell stations in the area, was down the street having lunch with a visiting relative when he started getting frantic phone calls from employees. He said he's not sure how much it will cost him to rebuild, but expects his insurance will cover the damage

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Miles said he admired the firefighters for their bravery.

"We have 30,000 gallons of fuel stored underground here, and they were standing right on top of it," he said. "As sad as it is being the owner and watching this go up in smoke, I'd rather be doing that than standing on the other end of one of those nozzles."

Fire Chief Tracey Hansen said there was never any threat of the fire extending to the fuel pumps. "It's been a stubborn fire," she said, adding that firefighters would probably spend the rest of the afternoon making sure all remaining pockets were extinguished.

A small crowd of curious witnesses gathered at the station to watch firefighters work, as police blocked traffic briefly on a two-block stretch of Elk Grove Blvd near the scene of the fire.

Nita Lloyd, 65, said she had just arrived at the post office a block away when the building went up in flames. "I turned around and it just went, schwing, black smoke everywhere," she said. "I'm glad nobody was hurt."


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