Investigators Look for Links in 9 Arson Cases at Beauty Salons

The Los Angeles Fire Department is investigating whether there are links between five fires set Monday in San Fernando Valley beauty salons and four other similar arson cases in the area since February, authorities said.

The fires in the nine beauty salons have caused more than $1 million in damage, they said.

Officials said there are similarities in the fires but are unsure whether they were the work of one person. They said there was no known motive for arson.

“The only common thread we have is that all the cases had the same method: There was forced entry . . . a fire was set” and there was vandalism, Fire Inspector Ed Reed said.

Between 1 and 3 a.m. Monday, firefighters were called to blazes set at Hair Alternative and Le’s Magic Nails, next door to each other in the 13700 block of Roscoe Boulevard in Panorama City, and Tina Nails in the 13600 block of Victory Boulevard in Van Nuys.

Hair Alternative and Le’s were not severely damaged, but Tina Nails had about $150,000 in damage, officials said.

The operators of two other salons in Van Nuys--Future Nails in the 7500 block of Sepulveda Boulevard and the Wild Hair Salon in the 13700 block of Burbank Boulevard--arrived Monday morning to find that fires had been set inside during the night. Neither salon suffered extensive damage.

Reed said fires set the morning of April 18 caused $600,000 in damage to the Golden Nails salon in the 14500 block of Sherman Way in Van Nuys and $20,000 in damage to Lynn’s Nails four blocks away in the 14900 block of Sherman Way.

Reed said a fire set in Sonia’s Hair Design in the 15000 block of Saticoy Street in Sepulveda caused $220,000 in damage Feb. 18, and a fire set at Hair-O-Dynamics in the 10600 block of Sepulveda Boulevard in Mission Hills did $20,000 in damage the same day.

Tina Tran, who operates Tina Nails, said she could not explain why her 6-month-old salon was targeted by an arsonist.

“I am confused by it,” she said. “Who could do this? I think some crazy is out there doing this. I had a good business. Now it’s gone.”

Tran said she did not know when she would reopen the business, where her mother also worked.

“I’m not going to open for a while,” she said. “They might come back.”