‘When there is no rhyme or reason, it makes it very difficult to find the person.’ : Beauty Shop Arsonist an Enigma

Doreen Jones opened her hair salon in Panorama City just two months before an arsonist broke in the morning of May 2, ransacked the place and set a fire that gutted it. Now Jones is cutting hair in a shop somebody else owns and waiting until she can reopen her own.

Tina Tran has a similar story. She opened a nail salon in Van Nuys six months ago. On the same day Jones lost her business, Tran’s salon also was burned by an arsonist.

Two weeks before that, Tam Nguyen also became an arson victim when his 4-month-old nail salon in Van Nuys was destroyed. He lost a $20,000 investment.

The shop owners don’t know each other but they are part of the same puzzle. Los Angeles Fire Department investigators believe a serial arsonist may be at work in the San Fernando Valley. But they don’t know why.

Since February, nine beauty salons in an area that ranges from Van Nuys north to Mission Hills were targeted by what appears to have been a single arsonist.

10th Arson Sunday

A 10th salon--Obsession Studio in Panorama City--was hit early Sunday morning, causing $6,000 damage. The most recent fire, which investigators called arson, was on Roscoe Boulevard, just blocks from two of the other salons. Fire investigators on Sunday were still trying to determine whether it was the work of the same arsonist.

With few clues, investigators are faced with the difficult task of trying to find motives for the fires and reasons the targets might have been chosen.

“Unfortunately, there are many more questions than there are answers,” said Inspector Ed Reed. “It would appear these fires are linked. But if you were to try to look for a pattern, there is none.

“We have looked into every aspect of who might have done this. So far, we have nothing.”

Fire Department arson specialists have investigated possible motives ranging from racism to competition and in each case have found reason to discount them. Investigators also have not been able to find a common connection among the businesses, whether it be an unhappy customer or a disgruntled former employee.

The operators of the businesses also have no answers.

“I wish I knew why we were picked,” said Jones, who operated Hair Alternative in Panorama City. “I’d like to know what we did.”

The possibility that there is no apparent direct link between the businesses and the arsonist is the most disturbing of all to fire investigators, Reed said.

“When you go through the normal possibilities and there are no links, that leaves nothing else except someone who needs mental help . . . a firebug,” he said. “There may be no link between these businesses but in the person’s psychological problem. When there is no rhyme or reason, it makes it very difficult to find the person.”

Started in February

Investigators believe the arsonist struck first on Feb. 18. On that day, fires were set during early morning hours at Sonia’s Hair Design in Van Nuys and at Hair-O-Dynamics in Mission Hills. Exactly two months later, Golden Nails and Lynn’s Nails, salons four blocks apart in Van Nuys, were damaged by arson.

Two weeks later, on May 2, fires were set at Hair Alternative and Le’s Magic Nails in Panorama City and Tina Nails, Future Nails and Wild Hair Salon in Van Nuys. Only Hair Alternative and Tina Nails were badly damaged.

The nine fires caused $1 million in damages, with estimated losses to the individual businesses ranging from a few hundred dollars to $600,000. Each of the businesses were located in small one-story shopping centers and most had only been open a few months.

Reed said the arsonist used the same method to break into the businesses and to start the fires after ransacking them, but investigators declined to release specific details. It is believed that the arsonist may have stolen small items related to manicuring or hair-cutting from the businesses.

Reed said the arsonist’s method was simple, with no “signature” that specifically ties the cases together. In some cases, the arsonist’s work was sloppy; fires burned out on their own. At one salon, the arsonist started the fire in a bathroom and then apparently closed the door, which prevented the blaze from spreading.

Still, the fires in other salons grew large enough to consume any evidence or indications of the arsonist’s method, a common difficulty in arson investigations, Reed said.

While fire officials are reluctant to completely rule out any motives for the arsons, Reed said investigators have found cause to eliminate the most common reasons.

Investigators found no indications of insurance fraud, he said. The shops had no common insurance carrier and at least two of the shop owners said they did not have insurance.

After interviewing the operators of the shops, investigators have also found no instances where the victims had been threatened or targeted for extortion by gangs or organized crime.

Another common motive for business arson is the elimination of competition, but Reed said that theory is not consistent with the series of salon fires. Investigators believe the pattern of nine fires is spread too wide for the arsons to have benefitted any single competing business.

“In some of these cases, there are other salons very nearby,” Reed said. “So it appears as if the choosing of these places has been very random.”

Reed and some of the operators also noted that the arsonist has randomly hit both nail and hair salons, two businesses that do not necessarily compete with each other.

Most of the shops burned had been open only a short time, but investigators have not found the elimination of new businesses to be a motive for the arsons. The Wild Hair Salon had been operating at 13705 Burbank Blvd. for eight months before the arson, but had previously been located for eight years just six blocks away.

“We have been in business in this area for a very long time,” said the shop owner, who asked that her name not be used. “We never had any trouble before. This just came out of nowhere. I couldn’t even guess why.”

Because several of the shops were owned by and employed Asians, fire officials looked into the possibility that there was a racial motive for the arsons. But Reed said that theory was then dropped because the owners and employees of all nine shops range from white to black to Vietnamese, Korean and Chinese.

Without a motive to focus on, investigators have contacted other fire departments in California to see if there are similar cases. None have turned up.

Reed said investigators also have put other salons in the Valley under surveillance in the hope of catching the arsonist. He acknowledged that with dozens of nail and hair salons in the Valley, the investigators are hard-pressed to watch them all.

“What we tried to do was rove through the area where these fires have been and keep an eye on the other shops,” Reed said. “What we are ultimately trying to do is stop this from happening again. Perhaps, if this person knows we are out there, he’ll stop or we can scare him away.”

Few Businesses Reopen

While investigators continue to puzzle over the fires, only a few of the shops have returned to business.

One of them is Tina Nails, which moved to a new location about 10 blocks away from the shop that burned May 2. Tina Tran, who was not insured, said business has been slow since she reopened last week. She fears the two-week downtime may have cost her some regular customers.

“I think I lost a lot of people,” she said. “I had no phone for a time and they had no way of finding out I would reopen.”

Doreen Jones, who was insured, said she expects to reopen Hair Alternatives by early summer. Since the fire, she has been working out of a nearby salon whose owner offered her space.

“Luckily, we’ve been able to keep our clients,” she said.

Tam Nguyen hasn’t been so lucky. He said he has no immediate plans and no money to reopen Golden Nails. Nguyen, who immigrated from Vietnam eight years ago, put all his money into getting his shop open.

“I was going to get insurance,” he said. “I just waited too long. I’m not sure yet what I am going to do now.”

Arson Sites

1.-- Feb. 18. Sonia’s Design, 15240 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys

2.-- Feb. 18. Hair-O-Dynamics, 10648 Sepulveda Boulevard, Mission Hills

3.-- April 18. Golden Nails, 14507 Sherman Way, Van Nuys

4.-- April 18. Lynn’s Nails, 14905 Sherman Way, Van Nuys

5.-- May 2. Hair Alternative, 13754 1/2 Roscoe Boulevard, Panorama City

6.-- May 2. Le’s Magic Nails, 13756 1/2 Roscoe Boulevard, Panorama City

7.-- May 2. Tina Nails, 13654 Victory Boulevard, Van Nuys

8.-- May 2. Future Nails, 7544 Sepulveda Boulevard, Van Nuys

9.-- May 2. Wild hair Salon, 13705 Burbank Boulevard, Van Nuys