$1 Million Fire Guts Industrial Building Housing 3 Businesses : Thousand Oaks: Only the cement walls of the 16,000-square-foot structure remain after the early morning blaze.

Fire destroyed a Thousand Oaks industrial building early Wednesday morning, shooting flames hundreds of feet in the air and causing almost $1 million in damage, firefighters said. No one was injured in the fire at 3580 Willow Lane, and no surrounding buildings suffered any damage, firefighters said.

The structure, which was owned by an Encino-based developer, housed two car-towing companies, Brad’s Towing and Roy’s Towing, and R.C.O.A. Inc., a service that recovered assets and records from bankrupted estates, fire officials said.

Hours after firefighters put out the fire, only the building’s four cement walls remained standing, and those just barely, firefighters said. The 16,000-square-foot structure suffered $720,000 in damage, fire officials said. Another $200,000 worth of papers, files and office equipment was destroyed, according to the Fire Department.

The building was not equipped with indoor sprinklers, which would have saved the structure, fire officials said.

“It will be several days before we can determine the cause,” said Sam Meier, a department supervisor. “The building was totaled and it will have to be shored up first.”

Firefighters said they did not know when the flames started. Firetrucks arrived on the scene at 5:14 a.m. and had the fire contained by 6:41 a.m., officials said.

The building is owned by Hillcrest Oaks, an Encino-based developer that also owns office and industrial buildings in Los Angeles and Orange counties, said Michael Morris, Hillcrest’s project manager for the Willow Lane building.

Morris said the company will begin to rebuild just as soon as it can clear away the debris. “The damage looks pretty complete to me,” he said.

Morris said Hillcrest rents the property to Bruce Raville, the owner of Bruce’s Towing and R.C.O.A., the assets recovery firm. According to city records, Raville in turn rents space to Roy B. Conn, who owns Roy’s Towing.

Conn could not be reached for comment.

Raville was on a fishing trip in Mexico with his two employees when the fire started, said his mother, Jeanette Raville. “Oh my poor son!” she said. “We’re trying to get word to them now, but we’re not sure where they are.”

The blaze looked “pretty dramatic” when firetrucks arrived Wednesday morning, said Stan Raap, the battalion chief on duty. “The flames were leaping several hundred feet in the air and there were these incredible arcs of light overhead,” he said.

The arcs are what firefighters call brilliant bursts of light that occur when flames sweep by the charged, overhead power lines, Raap explained. The Fire Department soon called Southern California Edison to shut off power to the building, and the light arcs stopped, Raap said.

No surrounding buildings suffered power problems as a result of the fire, said Carol Larson, area manager for Edison.

The structure is located just east of Edison’s facility on Foothill Drive, and stands next to a GTE office building.

The fire required 42 people, six fire engines, two ladder trucks, one light and air unit, and one hazardous materials unit to put it out, said Meier, the department supervisor.

Firefighters estimated they poured 4,000 to 5,000 gallons of water per minute in the first hour.

No firefighters entered the burning building, said George Hatt, a Fire Department safety officer. “On a fire like this, it would be suicide to send any firefighters inside,” he said.