Arson Fire Damages Riverside City Hall Offices
A deliberately set fire caused at least $75,000 damage to the top floor of City Hall in downtown Riverside and interrupted a City Council session in an adjacent building, authorities said. No one was injured.
Brian Keith Johnson, 24, of Riverside was arrested after he emerged from a stairwell as firefighters battled the Tuesday night blaze. He was being held Wednesday on suspicion of arson, police said.
Riverside Fire Capt. Ed Couchman said the blaze broke out at 8:45 p.m. on the seventh floor, where the mayor, city manager and city clerk have offices.
Couchman said it appears that someone “piled up stacks of papers on top of three or four desks and then lit them.”
Two dozen firefighters brought the two-alarm blaze under control within 30 minutes, but flames, smoke and water damaged furniture and office equipment as well as the building’s ceiling, walls and carpeting.
“It’s a mess,” Assistant City Manager Robert Wales said. “The mayor’s office is the most severely damaged.”
Officials and several aides lost memos, desk calendars, papers and other belongings in the fire, Wales said.
Johnson does not work for Riverside, and Wales said he is unaware of any incident that might have given the suspect a motive.
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