Blaze Wrecks Pool Hall, Chamber Office

Investigators believe an explosion might have caused a fire early Thursday that destroyed a billiards parlor and badly damaged a Chamber of Commerce office.

Shattered glass in and around the Sound of Billiards pool hall indicated an explosion, said Capt. Duane Lewis of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Lewis, who was part of a Fire Department team investigating the blaze at the corner of Thousand Oaks Boulevard and Lindero Canyon Road, said it was too early to tell if it was caused by arson.

The blaze, reported shortly after 5 a.m., might also have destroyed the Westlake Village chamber headquarters had it not been protected by a firewall.

No damage estimates were available Thursday, but Firefighter Dave Call said it was likely to be significant.

“When you have fire through the roof, it’s a big fire,” he said. “There was a lot of material inside burning.”

Chamber officials held a vigil outside the burned-out building Thursday afternoon, peeking through a door at their water- and smoke-damaged offices and hoping the furniture and computers could be salvaged.

“It’s like losing a home,” said Janet Levett, president of the chamber. “We’re grateful that no one was hurt, but it’s just terrible.”

The business organization had celebrated one year of residence in the building on Saturday.

Chamber employees will operate out of a desk in City Hall until they can relocate to an office in the same business complex, Levett said.

The owners of the billiards parlor, which city officials said had operated on the property since the spring of 1994, could not be reached for comment.