Fire in Santa Ana Storage Facility Destroys Several Antique Autos

An early-morning fire raced through a Santa Ana storage warehouse Friday, causing more than $1 million in damage to the building and destroying several antique cars, including a 1916 electric model that was one of the last of its kind in the world.

“There used to be six of them,” Battalion Chief Don Mahany, a spokesman for the Santa Ana Fire Department, said of the vintage Rausch Lang electric. “Now there are five.”

The fire also destroyed a 1906 International High-Wheeler, a 1923 Model T Ford panel truck, a 1972 Sport Volvo and a 1955 Studebaker.

The cars were part of a 30-vehicle collection of rare and vintage automobiles owned by Leonard Nowakowski, a local businessman who kept them at the Stor Mor Storage Warehouse, which he also owns, in the 1600 block of Edinger Avenue, near Grand Avenue.

“It’s a big loss,” said Nowakowski. “The electric can’t be replaced. Each time you lose one, they come closer to being extinct.”

The cause of the fire, which began about 2 a.m., was under investigation. After a passerby reported the fire, about 30 firefighters were able to contain it within an hour, but not before the flames destroyed 19 storage units and heavily damaged five more.

One of them, Mahany said, contained traces of mercury and cyanide, hazardous materials normally associated with amateur gold mining. As a result, he said, “hazmat” teams from Santa Ana and Anaheim spent most of the day cleaning up the mess and seven firefighters had to be taken to a hospital to be tested for contamination. All were declared uncontaminated. An eighth firefighter suffered heat exhaustion and was treated at the hospital and released.

The same building caught fire about eight years ago, Mahany said, but the flames stopped just short of the cars. The cause of that fire was never determined, officials said.

On Friday afternoon, hours after the flames had subsided, Nowakowski supervised the removal of his surviving cars to another facility while bemoaning the loss of the ruined ones. “They were all in mint condition,” he said. He began collecting them 30 years ago.

Employees said they’d spent a year restoring and customizing the Rausch Lang, which they estimated was worth at least $100,000. “I just feel a little sad about all the lost labor and money,” said Jorge Meza, who oversaw the restoration. “My labor, his money. It makes you respect the power of fire.”

Nowakowski, however, said he refused to be discouraged by the loss of his cars. “These things happen,” he said. “I’m not going to get sick over it.”

His plans? “I’ll just try to replace them. And if I can’t, I’ll find something else.”