RVs and boats destroyed in mysterious Christmas morning fire in Pflugerville

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas - Firefighters battle fire at a business in Pflugerville. 

Travis County ESD 2 Battalion Chief Michael Anderson says firefighters got a structure fire call around 3 Christmas morning.

When they got to Shoreline Boat & RV Repair on Central Commerce Drive in Pflugerville, crews found RV's and boats burning in a pavilion.

"They had a large amount of fire when they arrived so it took several units using aerial devices and master streams to put the fire out," Anderson said.  

Chief Anderson says structural integrity was the main hazard.  But that's not all.

Joe McGuan lives nearby.  He was in bed when he heard explosions.

"Small ones and large ones, they were rather irregular.  At first you thought it was gunfire but it was just too loud," McGuan said.

"Whenever there's any type of pressurized tires, pressurized containers...most of these RV's had propane storage or propane tanks on them and a lot of the reported explosions and stuff were either tires or those propane cylinders over-pressurizing and rupturing," Anderson said.

Chief Anderson says that was a challenge for firefighters.

"Yeah I mean because it always throws fragments.  It can always detonate outside the area and cause a flash so all of our crews remained at a safe distance using master streams or hand lines that can reach from a distance," he said.

According to Anderson about 25 RV's and boats were destroyed.

"Around the property probably another 25-plus that sustained some sort of damage," he said.  

"Luckily no one was hurt.  That's the one blessing out of this whole thing is that no one was hurt but there's a lot of property lost here," McGuan said.

Firefighters say as of Tuesday morning they still don't know what caused the fire.  And they say the Fire Marshal won't be able to get in there to safely investigate until they bring in some heavy equipment to clear out some of that debris.