HOUSTON --
A three-alarm fire broke out at a Galleria area parking garage on Monday, burning a dozen vehicles, KPRC Local 2 reported.
Houston firefighters said 10 to 12 cars caught fire on the seventh floor of a high-rise garage at the Chase Bank building on San Felipe Street near Augusta Drive at about 9:30 a.m.
"That creates some challenges for firefighters," HFD spokesman Pat Trahan said. "One is trying to get water up to that floor."
Black smoke could be seen billowing from the garage.
"The reason why this fire was so smoky all the plastic components in the cars tend to give off a lot of smoke," Trahan said. "When we fight those fires and put water on them, we try to collect as much of that nasty waste water as possible, so we need manpower to try to get those things under control."
Fire officials said the flames started inside one vehicle and spread to others.
The fire was put out shortly before 11 a.m. It did not spread to the office building connected to the garage.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
"Typical car fires start with some sort of electrical issue," Trahan said. "I'm not saying that's the situation here, but those are the types of things that we would be looking for in this circumstance."
No injuries were reported.
Structural engineers are also checking out the garage to make sure it is still safe.
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