San Diego- The smoldering coals of a tailgate barbecue ignited a fire that destroyed six vehicles in the parking lot at Qualcomm Stadium Sunday. The blaze also damaged four other nearby vehicles.
“There was all kinds of black smoke going down and then up again,” said Lou Colantonio of El Cajon, a Chargers fan who watched from the stands as the fire jumped from one car to another.
Shortly after kickoff of the exhibition game between the Chargers and the St. Louis Rams, the hot coals of a barbecue left in front of a Ford Mustang ignited six cars that had been parked together in the M-3 section of the parking lot. Flames shot skyward, a deep black smoke column rose high into the air, and the smell of burning tires wafted over the grandstands.
Some cars were reduced to blackened hulks while others had only their front or back ends destroyed. The fire burned away tires, leaving cars sitting on their rims. Shattered glass lined the rows between the burnt vehicles. Fenders were melted away.
Police Sgt. Ray Mattuck said there was no doubt the fire had been started by a barbecue.
By halftime, arson investigators were combing through the ashes. The investigators were expected to determine today whether charges would be filed, firefighters said.
There are concrete barrels with the words “Hot Coals” emblazoned on them in red around the Qualcomm parking lot. One was located a half-dozen car lengths from the smoldering barbecue.
From the stands, Sam Mason of San Diego saw that one of the vehicles on fire appeared to be his Ford Explorer, so he left the stadium at halftime to check it out.
He was right.
“I don’t even like the Chargers,” Mason said. “I tried to sell these tickets. I only bought them because you have to to get tickets to the (Pittsburgh) Steelers game.”
The Chargers frequently require fans to purchase a package rather than a single-event ticket.
“I just got it paid off,” said William Dorsett of Menifee, as he rested his head in his arms after surveying the damage to his white Mustang. It was parked between Mason’s SUV and a Dodge Dakota belonging to Al Crisp of Temecula.
Crisp, who works for a firm compiling game statistics, said there were no other cars in the section of the lot when he parked at 10 a.m.
Dorsett and Mason said they had noticed the barbecue when they parked, but hadn’t paid that much attention. Dorsett remembered corn on the grill.
Germaine Julius of Imperial Beach, still tailgating in the parking lot at halftime, said police on horseback did a good job of escorting firefighting equipment to the scene at about 1:30 p.m. Officials said they had the fire out within 15 minutes of the first call.