San Diego

Arson was blamed for the fire that destroyed a 75-year-old downtown building housing the Jerry Gonzales Produce Co., investigators said Monday. The fire took 40 minutes to control and caused an estimated $120,000 in damage, a Fire Department spokesman said.

Firefighters responding to a call shortly after 10 p.m. Sunday found the building engulfed in flames. A second alarm quickly followed. Jerry Gonzales, owner of the company in the 500 block of J Street, was inside the building when the fire broke out but escaped uninjured. The company had occupied the warehouse for 20 years.

The fire also threatened the neighboring Brunswig Drug Co. building at J Street and 5th Avenue, but firefighters saved the structure by creating a “curtain of water” between the buildings, the spokesman said. Two vehicles were destroyed in the fire, as were power lines on J Street and 6th Avenue. The Metropolitan Arson Strike Team is investigating.