By TIDE FORECAST FOR TODAY IN SANTA MONICA By Daily Press staff
PICO NEIGHBORHOOD The cause of a fire that collapsed the roof of a two-story building on 14th Street might never be known.
One week after a blaze erupted at the site of a media production facility across the street from Woodlawn Cemetery, fire investigators still have no leads into what sparked the fire that left three businesses without a home.
Sometimes, the causes of fires are never solved, noted Santa Monica Fire Capt. Scott Ziegert on Monday.
The 15,000-square-foot structure, home to Imperial Media Services — a media production company specializing in duplicating CDs and DVDs, as well as a software business and a graphic design firm, broke out in flames in the early evening hours of June 18, drawing crowds of people into the streets to watch one of the largest fires in recent Santa Monica history.
Firefighters battled the blaze into the following afternoon, extinguishing small pockets of fire throughout the building.
City building inspectors on scene deemed the building as unsafe the following morning, keeping Santa Monica Fire investigators from entering the structure. An independent contractor was secured by the building owner to stabilize the exterior walls of the structure, which was completed on June 20. An investigation began the following morning, concluding on Friday.
The total amount of loss will be determined after further review, Ziegert said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 26, 2007. Read the original PDF.