CARTERET — A two-alarm fire at a car lot in the borough was quickly brought under control, but not before tearing through dozens of vehicles.

It looked like 50 cars were impacted, with no official start determined yet as of preliminary count on Sunday afternoon, said Chief Mark Hruska of Carteret FMBA Local 67.

Hruska said the first call came in around 1:35pm, of flames at 700 Federal Boulevard, an Insurance Auto Auctions property. The fire was under control by 2:47pm.

Hruska said these cars were stacked in steel racks, up to four vehicles high. He said some of the cars headed for auction still have batteries hooked up and his department has seen before that a mixture of wet weather and fluctuating temperatures can sometimes cause one to short circuit.

The blaze is just days after more than a dozen cars caught fire at a parking garage at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Hruska confirmed it also the same property that saw a massive fire in 2015, which tore through 80 cars.

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