Blaze Causes $1-Million Damage in Canyon Country

An early morning fire at a Canyon Country mini-mall destroyed at least three businesses Friday, causing an estimated $1 million damage and disrupting phone service to 400 residents, fire and phone officials said.

Flames erupted about 1 a.m. at Langside Plaza in the 20000 block of Soledad Canyon Road, Los Angeles County fire officials said. The blaze gutted three offices, two of which were empty, burning through the roof of the structure and destroying a large chunk of wall.

“It was a big fireball,” said Mark Schutz, who along with his father, Tony, and brother Jay, operates two McDonalds restaurants in Canyon Country and Valencia.

Destroyed in the blaze was the Schutzes’ training center and storage facility, located just below a tax business that was also gutted by flames. Schutz said he arrived at work Friday to find melted computers, burned uniforms and no signs of a treasured collection of “Happy Meal” toys.

Several other businesses in the two-story complex also suffered heavy water and smoke damage. Another six businesses on the north end of the L-shaped mini-mall escaped serious damage.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation Friday afternoon, said Sgt. Jim Brent, an arson investigator for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

It took about 50 firefighters around an hour to contain the flames, said Tom Little, a county fire investigator. After burning through the roof of the tax business, the flames consumed nearby power lines, causing about 40 customers to lose service until about 8 a.m., said Rosalie Gnam, area manager for Southern California Edison.

Fire traveled through the power lines into phone cables, burning out one cable in a nearby underground vault, said Ron Baudino, a maintenance supervisor for Pacific Bell. An estimated 400 customers lost phone service, which was expected to be restored by midnight.