Investigators Look for Clues in Warehouse Fire at Airport

Los Angeles Fire Department investigators were looking into the cause of a blaze that gutted a vacant former Air National Guard supply warehouse at Van Nuys Airport early Saturday.

Department spokesman Pat Marek said investigators labeled the fire “suspicious” but did not provide further details.

He added that the supply warehouse had been scheduled to be demolished, “so the dollar loss is zero.”

No injuries were reported in the fire, which broke out shortly after 8 a.m. near Balboa Boulevard and Stagg Street, officials said.

Fifteen companies battled the fire and extinguished it in about 45 minutes.

Adjacent buildings were threatened, but none caught fire, authorities said.

The warehouse was located several yards away from the former National Guard Armory.

The armory, a converted airport hangar, was closed last year when the National Guard relocated to Point Mugu.

The Guard then turned the facility over to the city of Los Angeles.

The armory last year served as a shelter for homeless people under a city program.

The program provided continuous shelter for the homeless during the year’s coldest month, officials said.

Capt. Charles Casper said the vacant warehouse had been used sparingly in recent months, mostly for commercials or other filming by studios.