Fire engulfs carport at Carson apartment complex; 3 vehicles destroyed

CARSON, Calif. (KABC) -- A fire erupted Wednesday night in a carport at an apartment complex in Carson, leaving at least three vehicles destroyed.

No one was injured in the blaze, which was reported shortly after 9:30 p.m. in the 23000 block of Sesame Street, just west of the 110 Freeway, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Firefighters responded to the Mariners Park Apartments and attacked the flames with hoses, extinguishing the fire by 10:20 p.m.

Due to the fire, a power outage occurred at a nearby building that houses five apartment units.

One resident told ABC7 that the carport fire burned for about 30 minutes before emergency responders arrived. The resident said the fire was not the first one that has occurred at the location, adding that a previous one was not as destructive as the one that burned Wednesday.

Patty Ramirez, the property manager for the Mariners Park Apartments, said she's experienced problems with a nearby homeless encampment in the past. She believes the blaze may be tied to that encampment.

"We've had issues before in the past. We have brought it to the police, but they don't seem to do anything. We get homeless people inside our property all the time, but we have to just escort them out. But nothing is getting done," Ramirez said.

Ramirez said she has been complaining about the issue to police for years.

"I've been working for this property for 15 years, and time after time, we let (police) know that we have homeless," she said.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.