Riverside County firefighters spent most of the day at an auto salvage and repair yard in North Palm Springs after a building there caught fire early Tuesday.

Crews were called to All American Towing & Salvage, 61-755 El Dorado Road, in unincorporated North Palm Springs at 2:39 a.m., Cal Fire reported.

“When we arrived on scene, the whole place was burning,” Cal Fire Capt. David Petrinovich said. “It was totally involved.”

The fire was controlled by midnight, Cal Fire said. The cause was still unknown at midday Wednesday.

Tuesday morning, firefighters sprayed water and foam over the walls of the building while waiting for equipment that was used to knock down an exterior block wall and give crews better access to the fire.

Cal Fire Battalion Chief John Rios said about 200 to 300 tires were burning inside the building, where some interior walls and the roof had collapsed.

Also inside the building were auto parts, including more than 100 batteries, and a few vehicles, officials said.

By afternoon, firefighters had put out the flames and had begun using heavy machinery to remove smoldering tires from the building to be fully extinguished.

The fire displaced a caretaker, according to Cal Fire. He is being assisted by the American Red Cross.

No injuries were reported, but smoke from the blaze drifted east into other areas of the Coachella Valley during the morning.

By the afternoon, winds were pushing the smoke to the northwest, toward Whitewater.

Fire officials said the smoke largely dissipated before it reached residential areas and was not expected to pose a health threat to valley residents.

Frank Pelletier said he has known the auto yard's owner for 17 years and drove to the business Tuesday morning when he saw smoke from his home about four miles away in Painted Hills.

“He's a nice guy, and he doesn't deserve this,” Pelletier said of the owner.

He said the owner had been hit by thieves in the past and also had a tow truck burned more than a year ago.

“He can spring back, but this is going to be a hard one to spring back from,” Pelletier said.

Efforts to reach the auto yard's owner by phone Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The cause of the blaze was still unknown Tuesday afternoon, Cal Fire Capt. Fernando Herrera said.

Eight engines, including one from the Palm Springs Fire Department, were called to the fire.