Firefighters got a call about the fire at about 5:30 a.m. Saturday. The flames consumed decade's worth of 72-year-old Phillip Bragg's collectibles.
"You could see were flames and everything burning," Bragg said.
Bragg watched the fire destroy his storage shed, a place where he kept some of his most valuedcollectibles and hung out with his buddies. Some if the valuables the shed housed was his wife's Chrysler convertible and his1959 Harley Davidson.
"It's history. I just restored it two years ago, everything is brand new," Bragg said.
Firefighters said the fire ripped through two storage sheds and a store selling satellite dishes.
"The flames were probably 20-25 feet in the air over the building," Coalinga Fire Capt. Keith Krider said.
Firefighters said the flames traveled fast in the old building made of wood.
"There's an apartment complex on the south side of the structure and another one on the east side and that was the first concern to knock the flames down to protect the exposures," Capt. Krider said.
It took less than two hours to contain the fire. No one was hurt. Damages are estimated at half a million dollars, but Bragg said it is the smaller more sentimental things he will miss the most.
"That whole thing is full of 78, 45, and 8-track tapes and stuff I have had for years," Bragg said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Firefighters said it will take several days to figure out where and how the flames started.