2 Homes, 5 Cars Hit by a Suspicious Fire

An early morning fire Friday in Pasadena that burned two homes, destroyed five cars and killed a dog is being considered arson by fire officials.

Battalion Chief Fred Law of the Pasadena Fire Department said the 3:30 a.m. blaze in the 600 block of North Orange Grove Boulevard apparently started in an apartment building’s carport and quickly spread to the neighboring homes, causing about $360,000 in damage.

The Saucedo family members were unaware that the fire had spread to their home until police began pounding on their door. The family rushed outside.

“We could hear explosions, but didn’t know what it was,” said Ruby Saucedo, 20, who with her family spent Friday morning trying to salvage the few water-soaked belongings retrieved from the gutted house. The family’s Chihuahua could not be rescued from the blaze.

Law said it appears that a 1996 Mustang parked in the carport was the point of origin for the fire.

“Almost a split second” after the Mustang ignited, he said, “all five cars were fully involved.”

The explosions Saucedo heard, said firefighters at the scene, were the sounds of car tires popping.

Law said the intensity of the fire--which broke windows, singed eaves and melted window blinds in the nearby apartment building--led investigators to conclude that a flammable liquid had been poured on or near the first car.

The owner of the Mustang said she had no idea who would have set fire to her car, which had been parked in the carport since 7 the night before.