$25-Million West L.A. Fire Called Arson

The Los Angeles Fire Department said Wednesday that arson was the cause of a fire that spread from a condominium construction site to an exclusive neighborhood in West Los Angeles on Dec. 23, causing at least $25 million in damage and forcing 150 people from their homes.

“We’ve eliminated all possible reasons for an accidental cause of the fire,” Battalion Chief Lon Purcell said of the fire at the Devonhill Condominiums, which began at about 3:30 a.m. Purcell said he could not discuss the evidence found at the site of the fire at the intersection of Devon Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard.

But a source familiar with the investigation, who asked not to be identified, said investigators smelled gasoline at the site of the blaze in the partially completed condominium project. The source also said witness statements after the fire were consistent with a fire fed by a large quantity of fuel spread over the ground.

Some witnesses said they heard an explosion, while others reported a loud “whoosh.” When they looked outside, they said, the flames already were reaching the top of the four-story structure, which is consistent with a fire that was intentionally set, the source said.

Whipped by Santa Ana winds, the fire hopscotched along Wilshire Boulevard and into nearby neighborhoods, damaging 15 buildings. Although the initial assessment of the damage was placed at $25 million, Fire Department officials said the figure could go as high as $40 million.

Purcell said the department has identified no suspects and the source said the department does not even have strong suspicions.

There was a security guard on duty the night of the fire, but he said he saw nothing and passed a lie detector test, the source said. The source said, however, there was “significant opposition” to the building in the surrounding area, although he did not say what that opposition was based upon.

Also, the source said, “there had been a lot of labor problems” at the job site. Some workers had been laid off recently, according to the source. That contrasted with the public statements of construction officials at the site, who said they knew of no labor trouble.

The source said the Fire Department learned that the fire was suspicious early in the investigation, but delayed announcing the cause. Fire officials were cautious because of criticism the department received for its handling of two other high-profile fires, the source added.

In both fires--a $22-million blaze at the Los Angeles Public Library and one that destroyed the historic Pan Pacific Auditorium--suspects were arrested and then released for insufficient evidence.

The department felt unfairly treated in those incidents, claiming that in the case of the Pan Pacific fire it had been pressured by the mayor’s office to announce the confession of a man whose attorney later said would “confess to killing President Roosevelt if you asked him.”