Probe of Fires Focuses on Possibility of Arson : Westwood: Loss in series of blazes likely to be in the millions. Investigators study ruins of site where flames began.

Fire investigators were focusing Sunday on the possibility that arson was the cause of a series of disastrous blazes that raced through a Westwood neighborhood and became one of the city’s worst-ever residential fire incidents.

“I would approach it as a criminal” matter, said one investigator, who asked not to be identified.

Other fire officials going through the debris also said privately they were suspicious of the fires that raged through a row of condominiums and apartments early Saturday, destroying part of the 14-story Wilshire Terrace apartment building and igniting 14 other structures, routing 150 people from their homes.

Investigators told of witnesses who said they heard a loud explosion followed almost immediately by a blaze that sent flames rocketing into the sky. But Los Angeles city fire spokesmen said late Sunday that officially the cause of the fire is still “under investigation.”

“We do have a team here investigating the possibility that arson could be involved,” said Battalion Chief Dean Cathey. But he said it could be several days before a cause is determined.

Fire officials also said it could be some time before they know the monetary damage caused by the blazes, although it is expected to be many millions of dollars. Wind-blown embers spread the flames over a wide area from the construction site at Wilshire Boulevard and Devon Avenue where it started. Three apartment buildings nearby were heavily damaged and one home two blocks away was destroyed.

Arson investigators were hampered Sunday by the presence of dangerous debris in the ruins of the construction site. While investigators looked on, cranes spent hours carefully lifting metal latticework from the four-story condominium project that was twisted by the heat into pretzel-like shapes.

They were interested in taking a close look at the spot where the fire began, thought to be deep inside the half-finished brick and wood building.

One fire investigator said fuel for generators was stored at the site and some drums could be seen near the perimeter of the property Sunday.

For a blaze to explode the way neighbors described it, investigators thought they might find more barrels inside.

A fire caused by an explosion is suspicious, investigators acknowledged, but they also said it is possible a small accidental fire had burned for some time before it touched off the explosion.

Devon Avenue and Beverly Glen Boulevard were still cordoned off Sunday as were two lanes of Wilshire Boulevard, where several red fire trucks were parked.

Cathey said that by today Wilshire and Beverly Glen should be clear, although he could not speculate on when Devon might be reopened.

While investigators were picking through the construction site Sunday, residents of the charred Westwood apartments rummaged through their apartments for whatever belongings they could find in the wet ashes.

At the Wilshire Terrace, which suffered major damage on the east side of the building on floors two through 14, people donned surgical masks and, because power was out, were escorted up the stairs by firefighters with flashlights. Some were seeking to retrieve clothes and other belongings not damaged in the fire.

The masks were to prevent exposure to asbestos contained in the construction material, fire officials explained.

Residents of the building included film director Billy Wilder, actress Greer Garson, who was believed to be in New Mexico but whose apartment was destroyed, and Dr. Robert Bookman, former President Ronald Reagan’s allergist.

Although everyone in the building--which is next to the condominium project--escaped, Bookman said he had a close call. After being awakened by a neighbor’s knock on his door, he ran into his dressing room, only to discover it was already on fire. He and his wife got out all right, but they lost a valuable collection of first-edition books by authors such as Washington Irving and Herman Melville, among others.

“This whole thing was like a holocaust,” he said.

Bookman said he and his wife will live in a hotel until the building is repaired. He said Reagan hasn’t called yet, but he said he expects to tell the former President all about the fire when he gives him his allergy shot this week.

Security guards, such as John Andriolo, 45, were credited by some firefighters with preventing a tragic loss of life through their quick action in getting people out of the Wilshire Terrace.

Andriolo, whose work in security had included a stint as head of security on Joan Rivers’ television show, said Sunday that he discovered the building was on fire when a housekeeper, in her nightgown, ran screaming up to his desk at the building control center. The guard said he called the Police and Fire departments, unlocked the doors so residents could escape, and called his partner, Mike Goddard.

“I said, ‘Mike we have a fire. Get upstairs and get people out as fast as you can,’ ” Andriolo said.

Then Andriolo said he began calling residents. If they did not answer within 20 seconds, he moved on, making a note to go back to them a second or third time.

Told that some firefighters were saying he helped effect an “amazing” escape, especially since many of the residents are elderly, he said: “My thanks is that people are OK. These are a bunch of wonderful people. It’s a delight to be of service to them.”

At the Devonshire apartments, on the other side of the construction site, graphic artist Diane Frankel was picking through what was left of art treasures she had gathered from around the world. Firefighters tried to hurry her out of the building because it had been declared unsafe. Streaks of sunshine came through open holes in the roof, illuminating a black muck on the floor that was a mixture of ashes and water.

“That was a beautiful painting from China,” she said, pointing to a framed image of a woman that was drooping out of its broken frame like a wilted flower.

“Interesting, huh?” she said sourly to a friend, Lisa Fremer.

“You’re alive,” Fremer replied.

When Frankel emerged from her apartment with a set of Sesame Street cups, firefighter Dennis Burleson seemed close to losing his patience.

“I told you to take only valuables,” he said.

“Without Miss Piggy, there is no life,” she lamented.

Jean Himmelstein, a neighbor who lost $60,000 worth of art--including Picasso etchings, Dali lithographs and an R.C. Gorman paper-casting--spotted the building handyman watching the activity with a downcast face.

“Gary,” she called. “My shower needs painting.”