Shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday, firefighters were called to the Como area of southeast Minneapolis, where four semitrailer truck were engulfed in flames.

The trucks were parked at Triple Crown Services, a freight and shipping company at 525 Kasota Ave., SE.

John Mord, a gatehouse attendant on duty, told the Star Tribune that a driver he'd just checked in noticed smoke coming from another truck.

"He ran up here in a hurry, then I ran back there to check it out and saw that a fire was starting," Mord said. "In no time, four trucks were on fire."

Mord said three or four fire crews appeared to battle the blaze.

He said he didn't think anyone was in the burning trucks, though some drivers sleep in their cabs on occasion.

"These guys come in and plug in their trucks for the night, then head home," he said. "Some of the drivers own their trucks. Others lease them. They're going to show up for work in a few hours and discover they don't have a truck. It's awful."

The cause of the blaze hasn't been determined.

Susan Hogan • @StribNightOwl