AFD battles fire and summer heat at North Austin car shop

On Monday morning, car audio shop, McCoy Customs started burning -- a fire the Austin Fire Department is calling an accident started by a sparked light bulb.

"As I exited the parking lot of the bank to come back down the road, I saw smoke coming out of the back of my shop," said owner Jeff McCoy.

He says he started getting his customers and employees out.

Thankfully, everyone did get to safety.  Janelle Boone with Austin Travis-County EMS says only one person was treated for injuries.

"One of the gentlemen received burns to his face, burns to his forearm and his chest, singed his eyebrows and his throat.  So he's already been transported to Brackenridge Hospital for evaluation at the burn center.

Fire Specialist David Mcguire says the fire crews went defensive when they saw everyone was out.  But there were plenty of obstacles.

"Had a lot of the paint and stuff like that was popping off as the heat would reach it," Mcguire said.

Even the power lines caught fire.

"Commanders called for Austin Energy.  They showed up on scene and then shut down those power lines to make sure that the public wasn't in danger," Mcguire said.

For firefighters -- the summer heat was a concern.

"The ambient heat, the blood pressures can rise fast, heart rates can rise fast and they really need to stay hydrated," Boone said.

They brought in the mobile "Am-Bus" as well.

"We can put them down, start IV's on them, monitor them, keep them on scene.  These are all pretty much independent.  Each bed is rigged and set up for a patient.  You've got cardiac monitors, kits, evacuation gear, you have medics that sit in here and monitor the patient's situation," Boone said.

AFD estimates the damage to McCoy customs is $350,000.

"I don't know what I'm going to do.  This is my livelihood.  Me and my employees, we're going to have to rebuild.  But I'm just glad everybody's safe," McCoy said.

That figure doesn't include the cars.  There were 13 cars damaged...2 of them were inside the shop being worked on.  The damage there is estimated to be $80,000.