Garage Fire in Bay Terraces neighborhood displaces 10 people

San Diego Fire is investigating a garage fire that displaced ten people in the Bay Terraces neighborhood Sunday afternoon.  

“This is the most that I could salvage,” Clarence Elder told NBC 7.

A jewelry box with watches is one of the very few belongings Elder was able to recover from the fire.

He was among ten people who were inside the home when the fire broke out.

According to San Diego Fire, they responded to a call about a garage fire at around 2:30 p.m. in the 700 block of Bullock Drive in the Bay Terraces neighborhood.

San Diego Fire said the fire may have started with a lithium-ion battery that was charging.

“I heard a pop and then I looked and my e-bike battery was smoking. My girl she tried to move the battery and when she moved it, it just exploded,” Elder said.

Clarence and his friends don’t know what’s next, but they’re grateful they have each other.

“Thank God we’re alive though, thank God, everybody made it out,” Elder said.

San Diego Fire said the home is uninhabitable due to smoke damage.

San Diego Fire said just in the last few weeks they’ve responded to multiple fires involving lithium-ion batteries. They said anyone who buys a lithium-ion battery should know how to properly charge it to avoid potential fires.