Spring Valley

A fire early Tuesday that caused more than $80,000 in damage to a Spring Valley produce market is suspected to have been caused by arsonists and may be a hate crime, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

There were no injuries in the 2:20 a.m. fire at the Country Produce Market, 9410 Grand Ave. It took firefighters more than an hour to extinguish the blaze.

Owner Dale Q, a Kurd now living in San Diego, had planned to open the market for business this week despite previous warnings from anonymous callers to get out of the neighborhood.

“About five days ago, someone painted ‘Get Out of the USA’ on the front door, and somebody came in and poured gasoline all over the fixtures,” Q said. “And now somebody came in and poured gasoline all over the fixtures and lit it, we didn’t even have groceries yet.”