A late-night fire engulfed a car being converted from fuel to electric power in the auto shop at Santa Rosa Junior College on Friday, causing $300,000 in damage, fire officials said.
The conversion of the 2005 Ford Focus over the past year-and-a-half had involved dozens of students and teachers, who were planning the first test drive on Saturday.
The work was all done, said Clifford Norton, automotive instructor at the college, as he stared at the charred remains on Saturday. "Everything had to be hand-built."
The Santa Rosa Fire Department responded around 11 p.m. Friday to a phone call from a passing driver who noticed smoke billowing from the shop's doors. The Focus is being investigated as a possible cause of the blaze.
"Most likely it had to do with the batteries or the wiring," Acting Deputy Chief Mike Jones said. "The batteries melted down, and the batteries leaked, so we had a hazardous materials problem."
A "vactor" truck which can suck up liquid spills was brought in to help clean up the mess and haul away the acid from the burnt batteries.
Norton said the car had been equipped with about 90 batteries, each about the size of a VCR tape, which were clustered in three locations - a pack under the front hood, another under the seats and a third in the trunk.
The car was burnt to its metal frame and nearly every trace of rubber was obliterated. The car's bumpers and door handles were gone, and its steering wheel was melted away.
Fire Inspector Mark Pedroia estimated that the blaze burned undetected for more than an hour.
"The fire consumed the entire car, and almost burned itself out because it burned so long," Pedroia said.
Auto repair equipment and teaching materials were damaged in the shop, and sheetrock and paint will have to be replaced due to smoke damage in parts of the building, Pedroia said.
But just a few feet away from the Focus, a Nissan 300ZX sports car was undamaged, with only a dusting of soot on its exterior.
Students are heading into spring break, and Norton expects the shop to be cleaned up by the time they return in a week. Pedroia said the cleanup could take longer.
The building was not equipped with a sprinkler system, and though functioning, the fire alarm was not monitored, meaning it does not notify off-site officials to the danger, Jones said.
Officials said after preliminary investigation the fire appeared to be accidental, and no one was injured.
Norton estimated that about $30,000 had been spent on the electronic car project, the bulk coming from a grant from the AAA insurance company, and the rest from the college and donations from the community.
Student Brent Michel, 31, showed up for an automotive technology class on Saturday and was shocked to see the shop covered in soot.
"It just goes to show how safe you are," Michel said. "With how much they push safety, it's pretty amazing."
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