East Austin Fire Wipes Out Big Chunk Of City's Pedicabs

EAST AUSTIN, TEXAS — A structure fire early Tuesday destroyed a sizable percentage of the city's pedicabs a mere month before SXSW, an event drawing an untold number of attendees relying on the transportation mode to negotiate downtown streets during the massive festival.

The Austin Fire Department responded to the 1500 block of East 4th Street near Comal Street at around 3:20 a.m. on Tuesday. No injuries were reported as a result of the big blaze, but up to 100 pedicabs stored at the building were destroyed, fire officials said.

A pair of pedicab companies, Metrocycle Pedicabs and Pedicab Adventures, stored some of their pedicab fleet at the site. By some estimates, the stock destroyed in the fire constituted roughly a fifth of the entire, citywide fleet of some 500 pedicabs. Monetary loss was estimated at around $400,000, according to fire officials.

The Austin Fire Department said the conflagration was sparked by an electrical short inside the warehouse. The cause of the fire was ruled to have been accidental.

Of course, this will be the first time a flood of electric scooters will likely descend on ground zero of SXSW in the heart of the city since the gadgets were introduced to the market last May. The sudden shortage of pedicabs in the wake of the fire might escalate the use of such scooters.

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>>> A preferred mode of transport for many SXSW attendees, pedicabs are omnipresent during SXSW, including at last year's festival. Photos by Tony Cantú/Patch staff