A fire at General Motors’ Advanced Design Studio has reportedly led to the loss of at least one concept car, according to US outlet The Drive.
The publication reports the fire broke out at the Pasadena, California venue in the afternoon on Wednesday, October 22, and was extinguished within two hours.
All emergency personnel and GM staff were reported as safe with no injuries, with GM communications director – Australian Sean Poppitt, former head of Holden comms – telling The Drive one of the brand’s concepts wasn’t so lucky.
“We’re grateful that all employees and first responders are safe and accounted for,” Poppitt said to The Drive.
“The isolated fire was contained to a single design concept vehicle and did not spread to any other vehicles, design concepts, or the building itself. We thank the responding fire departments for their swift action in extinguishing the fire.”
It’s not yet known what concept car was destroyed by the fire. Recently the design centre released the ‘California Corvette’ concept, though it’s only understood to have been made in the digital realm.
The Drive added there had been earlier reported from the likes of the LA Times and CBS News claiming more than 100 firefighters were involved in putting out the fire at the facility, initially linked to lithium-ion batteries, though an investigation into the blaze is underway.
GM invested more than US$71 million (A$109 million) into the centre, which opened last year and is effectively headed up by Brian Smith, design director for GM Advanced Design Pasadena.
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