At 4:28 a.m. the Sacramento Fire Department responded to a report of a commercial building on fire near the intersection of Boxwood and El Camino Avenue in North Sacramento.
The first firefighters on scene found a single story vacant building on the corner of Erickson and El Camino Avenue totally involved with fire. The fire had already spread to a mobile home which was being used as an office for King of Topps Camper Shell Sales located at 970 El Camino Avenue.
The radiant heat from the blaze had started a grass fire across Erickson Street which endangered several new tent trailers and RVs at that sales lot. A nearby power pole was completely on fire and had dropped all the lines attached to it including cable TV, telephone, street box fire alarm wire, all three transformers, and house power lines.
The high voltage lines on the top were precariously balanced by thin pieces of burning wood. A Second Alarm was called at 4:33.
Firefighters placed hose lines between the fire and the tent trailer/RV sales lot to keep the fire from spreading across the street. They were then able to attempt to move into the King of Topps sales area where fire had moved into an area where dozens of camper shells were stacked on racks.
A large Rottweiler guard dog prevented firefighters from entering the area to extinguish the fire. Firefighters quickly changed tactics and used a master stream appliance to hold the fire in check. The dog, still guarding the entire property, was moving along the perimeter in between the burning shells and a chain link fence which was a space of less than three feet. The dog moved to the far end of the compound which allowed firefighters to gain access to quickly move several camper shells to a safe location thereby cutting off the fire
