Videotape Shows Arsonist Setting Fire, Getting Burned

Officials released a videotape Wednesday of a man setting a fire--and catching fire himself--at a Laguna Hills spa.

The video shows the start of the blaze early Saturday that destroyed the Body Centre on Avenida de la Carlota: A white man with a ponytail and wearing a long-sleeved shirt smashes the store window and throws an object into the spa. Flames shoot back, catching his shirt, arms and face, said Capt. Paul Hunter, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.

“The man catches on fire and then turns around to pick up something [else] and throw it in,” Hunter said. “The man was obviously determined about what he wanted to achieve.”

Hunter said the arsonist may have been “significantly burned about the head, face, upper torso, hands and arms.” He added that while the man might have received some protection from his clothing, the extent of the burns would seem to have required hospital care. Hunter also said it was possible that the man had died from his injuries, given their apparent severity.

The camera that caught the scenes is outside a nearby Trader Joe’s. Signs warn that the premises are protected by surveillance cameras 24 hours a day.

The video also shows two people running near the fire. Hunter said investigators are not treating them as suspects, but are asking them to come forward with any information. Authorities have no suspects.

This was the second fire in recent weeks at the Body Centre, one of several shops in the strip mall. A blaze the day before Thanksgiving caused minor damage. Investigators have determined that a Molotov cocktail was used to start that fire, Hunter said.

Saturday’s fire caused $1 million in damage to the spa and “significant” damage to a neighboring optometry firm, authorities said.

Hunter said the woman who owns the spa, which offers massages and body wraps, has another shop in Costa Mesa. He said she has been questioned and is “cooperating with interviewers.”

Investigators are asking anyone with information on the fire to call them at (714) 289-6526.

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Times wire services contributed to this report.