Damage done after Neil Young’s warehouse catches fire

SAN CARLOS, Calif. — Investigators are trying to determine what sparked a three-alarm blaze early this morning in a warehouse full of rock legend Neil Young’s music equipment, vintage cars and memorabilia.

Workers and friends of Young are packing up some of the items that had been in the warehouse on Quarry Road when a fire broke out around 2:55 a.m. PST.

Damage is estimated at $1 million. No one was injured in the fire.

Crews had the flames under control by 3:45 a.m., said Belmont-San Carlos Fire Chief Doug Fry, which saved up to 70 percent of the assorted memorabilia, including six classic cars, that were stored in the 10,000-square-foot warehouse.

Young rents the warehouse, which is on a street full of industrial businesses. It was only after trying to track down the warehouse’s owner that fire officials realized who the famous renter was.

“Yeah, it was a bit of a surprise,” said Fry, echoing the comments of some other nearby tenants who had no idea Young stored his stuff in the area.

But Joe Conrad, who owns a recycling business just down the road, said he has seen Young pull in and out of the parking lot in front of the warehouse over the years. He said some people who work for Young pulled into the storage unit last night around 5:30 p.m.

“It’s kind of a coincidence,” he said. “Ten or fifteen minutes later they left. They weren’t there very long.”

Young had not released any statement Tuesday morning about the fire.