Advertisement Damage estimated at $2M from downtown Sac warehouse fire 104-year-old building contained classic car collection Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Sacramento fire officials said Friday that damage from a fire that destroyed a downtown warehouse and a classic car collection is estimated at $2 million dollars.Watch report: Investigators look for cause of downtown Sacramento fireFire investigators worked throughout the day at the building near 14th and E streets.One investigator climbed to the top of a fire engine ladder to take take pictures from above because of concern the building's brick walls might collapse."Especially the eastern portion of the building is extremely unsound," Deputy Fire Chief Lloyd Ogan said.Ogan said it looks as if the fire started inside the building near a rear alley.He said investigators had not yet determined how the fire started but said an accident was looking more and more likely."At this point we don't have anything that tells us that it's suspicious, so we're not leaning that direction right now," he told reporters.Through a hole firefighters cut in the front door of the warehouse, passersby could see some of the charred cars, bicycles and memorabilia.By late afternoon, a fence and tarp prevented people from looking inside."It's a tragic loss. There's an accidental fire. A family that's contributed to Sacramento for generations is suffering and is asking (for) a little bit of privacy," owner John Cox said.In a released statement, Cox said he and his father purchased the building in 1960 and initially used it to house their theatrical lighting business.More recently, he said it had been used for family gatherings.Challas Dutra, a car enthusiast who came to the scene, said he was familiar with the collection."Most of those cars were family (owned), handed down from generation to generation. These weren't cars that were bought to be sold to make money. These were like family heirlooms," Dutra said.Ogan said firefighters were proud to have stopped the fire from spreading to nearby homes and businesses.However, an unidentified man leaving the home nearest the burned building said he could no longer stay there because of extensive damage, including three holes in the roof.According to property records, the building was constructed in 1910.Ogan said it was not required to have a sprinkler system and no one was hurt.