The parking lot managed by Ho Chi Minh City's Traffic Police Department to keep vehicles as evidence for cases under investigation caught fire on Monday afternoon.
More than 20 fire trucks and 130 firefighters were sent to the scene on Hiep Binh Street, Thu Duc, in an attempt to keep the fire from spreading to the residential area nearby.
The flame reached a four-story apartment building next to the parking lot.
The owner of one such apartment said: "Billowing fire and smoke forced my family to run for cover."
Those living in the apartment building said it took them hours to clean the coal dust off their walls.
