Blasts Devastate Garden Grove Auto Shop : Man Killed, 16 Cars Destroyed as Fuel Tanks Explode Into Fireballs

A man was killed and three others suffered minor injuries Tuesday when fire and several explosions ripped through a Garden Grove automotive-repair garage and destroyed 16 automobiles, authorities said. They estimated damage to the cars and other property at $400,000.

Neighbors said they heard screams and what sounded like a number of explosions at Automotive International Inc., which is in a small industrial park at 11362 Westminster Blvd. The force of the blasts shattered windows to the south, along the 4600 and 4700 blocks of West Sunswept Avenue, where homes were evacuated temporarily as a column of black smoke rose from the gutted building.

Glen Ritchie, 32, of Santa Ana, was “apparently installing a fuel pump or fuel filter in a vehicle when there was an explosion of unknown origin, totally involving him in flames,” said Ellen Covey, speaking for the Fire Department. Ritchie died at the scene.

The fire quickly spread through the garage, apparently touching off explosions as it reached the gasoline tanks of the automobiles. The cars included nine Porsches, fire and police officials said.

Warren Cannon, 37, of Laguna Beach, a co-owner of the garage, suffered second-degree burns trying to help Ritchie before the intense heat and flames forced him to flee the building, Covey said. Paramedics treated Cannon, but he was not hospitalized.

Others inside the building at the time of the blast were employees Kenneth Cowan, 30, of Garden Grove, and Cliffton Case, 52, of Corona. They suffered minor smoke inhalation but were not hospitalized, the spokeswoman said. George Anderson, 52, a Garden Grove firefighter, suffered a knee injury and was relieved but not hospitalized.

“I heard the first explosion, then another one, and I ran to the fence,” said Joe Alvarez, whose North Parsons Place home is separated from the west side of the garage by an alley and a block wall five feet high. Alvarez said he saw men trying to re-enter the burning garage, only to be forced back by the flames.

Alvarez helped another man turn off the electricity to adjoining businesses.

Authorities said occupants of the other shops near the garage fled before firefighters arrived.

Fire and police departments were continuing their investigations. Fire officials estimated structural damages at $160,000 and damage to the cars and equipment inside the building at $240,000.