Transient Arrested in Fire at Pan Pacific

A 42-year-old transient has been arrested as a suspect in connection with an arson fire that destroyed Los Angeles’ historic Pan Pacific Auditorium a week ago, investigators announced Tuesday.

At a news conference, Fire Chief Donald Manning said the suspect, identified as Mark Kamansky, was arrested Sunday afternoon in a park next to the charred ruins of the auditorium after he told investigators that he had entered the shuttered building on several occasions and had set “more than one fire” inside.

Although authorities did not say that they were actively seeking further suspects, Battalion Chief Henry Ed Allen acknowledged that “we’re looking for acquaintances.”

Motive Is Unclear

“He did confess that he’d set more than one fire in the structure,” Manning said. “He did not give us a motive and we have not developed one for him yet.”

Manning, who said that the suspect “lived in an automobile,” emphasized that “we have quite a bit of work ahead of us before we can actually file on this case.”

Los Angeles County Parks Police Capt. Manuel Cisneros said Kamansky--who told officers that he was living in Pan Pacific Park--was detained Sunday by a parks officer until arson investigators arrived.

Under law, investigators have 48 hours to file charges against Kamansky, who is being held in lieu of $10,000 bail. If charges are not filed within that period, he would have to be released, Manning said.

“The suspect is due out at 4 p.m. (today),” said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Savitt. “That means they have until then to put together all their information, present it to me, and I will make a decision one way or the other.”

But in a brief statement at the news conference, an optimistic Mayor Tom Bradley said that authorities had made “a good arrest and we’re looking forward to completion of the investigation.”

Fire investigators said they are not concerned that the circumstances of the arrest are similar to an embarrassing arrest made in the wake of the 1986 fire that destroyed the Los Angeles Central Library.

Exaggerated Confession

In that case, a 28-year-old Hollywood man was arrested after making statements to acquaintances and investigators that amounted to a confession. After his arrest, the suspect insisted his remarks had been exaggerations, and his attorney insisted that the man was the type of person who liked to “color events.” After several days, the district attorney’s office decided not to file charges.

In the days after the Pan Pacific fire, arson investigators had alerted county parks officers to be on the lookout for transients matching descriptions provided by witnesses at the fire scene. Cisneros said that Parks Officer Keith Slack was patrolling the north end of the park at 3:30 p.m. Sunday when a “patron told Slack that a male transient was in the playground area exposing himself.”

In a field interview with Slack, Kamansky--who fit the description provided by witnesses--said that he “lived in the park” and that “he was in the building when the fire started,” Cisneros said. Slack called arson investigators, Cisneros added, “who told him to detain the suspect at the scene.”

When an arson team arrived a few minutes later, Kamansky told them that “a white male and female were inside the building with him and that the three of them started the fires,” Cisneros said. Kamansky then was booked, Manning said.

Spectacular Blaze

The fire broke out in the southwest corner of the vacant entertainment center shortly after 7 p.m. last Wednesday. Flames from the building at 7600 Beverly Blvd. shot 200 feet into air, creating a tremendous traffic jam.

Investigators earlier ruled out as a suspect a man who appeared to have suffered slight burns and smoke inhalation from the fire and then disappeared into the crowd before he could receive treatment.

Three days after the fire, Mattie, a specially trained Labrador retriever, sniffed out the presence of a flammable liquid on the floor of the building. Mattie’s handler, a Connecticut State Police trooper, said she is one of five such dogs working with fire departments in the United States.

Times staff writer Bob Baker contributed to this story.