Kent fire burns more than 100 vehicles at wrecking yard

Published 3:30 pm Monday, March 17, 2025

It took 40 fire personnel about seven hours to extinguish a two-alarm fire at an auto wrecking yard in Kent that burned over 100 vehicles.

The fire broke out at about 1:16 a.m. Sunday, March 16 at Binford Auto Wrecking, in the 26300 block of 78th Ave. S., in unincorporated King County in the Valley just south of Kent, according to Puget Sound Fire spokesperson Pat Pawlak.

“It took firefighters approximately seven hours to extinguish the fire,” Pawlak said in a March 17 email. “Firefighters remained on scene for an additional six hours monitoring for hotspots. Once firefighters were able to extinguish the majority of the fire, heavy equipment was used to move the cars, one by one, and firefighters would extinguish any hotspots.”

Pawlak said the vehicles already were crushed and in multiple stacks of approximately 10-feet high. He said over 100 vehicles were involved in the fire.

With a second alarm bringing a higher response, 40 fire department personnel respondedto the incident with 16 fire department units and two units from King County Medic One. The Zone 3 Fire Cadets assisted units from Puget Sound Fire, Valley Regional Fire Authority and the Port of Seattle Fire Department, Pawlak said.

No injuries were reported and no damage estimate is available, Pawlak said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the King County Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the incident because it was in an unincorporated part of the county.