Police and fire officials investigating rash of fires
A mid city neighborhood near the Santa Monica border has experienced a series of intentionally set fires in the past year.
The latest incident occurred Saturday when a small, unoccupied guest house on the 1700 block of Franklin Street went up in flames. Santa Monica Fire Department investigators ruled the fire’s cause as arson.
There have been 10 arson fires at five different locations over the past year, eight within the past four months. The neighborhood is located east from 26th Street to Centinela Avenue, between Santa Monica and Olympic Boulevards.
No one has been injured or killed from the fires.
“We know there is a fire problem in that part of the city,” said assistant fire marshal Jim Glew. “We are in a high level of awareness and our resources are being deployed with increased police patrols and whenever there is a fire in that area both fire and police are dispatched in hopes of apprehending this individual and putting this to a conclusion.”
“We know there is a fire problem in that part of the city.” — — JIM GLEW Santa Monica Fire Department
Last year, a laundry room at an apartment complex at 1744 Franklin Street was set on fire causing $8,000 in damage. A second fire was set in the same location two months later causing another $4,000 in damages, officials say.
Margaret Engler Paez, the owner of the apartment complex, said the fires terrified her. She subsequently moved.
“I couldn’t sleep anymore. I had tenants move out,” she said. “We moved because we couldn’t sleep anymore; every sound would wake us up. It definitely has changed our life.”
Paez and her husband moved to Chino Hills, but they still work at Engler Brothers Motor Parts on Pico Boulevard and their daughter continues to live in the apartment building. Paez’s building is two doors down from where Saturday’s fire occurred.
“I thought it was all over until this happened,” Paez said. “I am worried now because (my daughter) didn’t even hear the fire on Saturday.”
“I am worried now because (my daughter) didn’t even hear the fire on Saturday.” — — MARGARET ENGLER PAEZ Apartment complex owner
Months after the apartment fires, three dumpsters were set ablaze with in an hour of each other. Two months later, three cars were set on fire by an arsonist. Two were abandoned vehicles, and one was registered with the state, officials say.
An arsonist last month slipped an incendiary device through the mail slot of a neighborhood business, but because of the on-going investigation and privacy issues, officials would not release the specific address and names of victims.
Fire fighters and officers from the Santa Monica Police Department have formed an arson taskforce, which is helping investigate the recent rash of fires in the area.
But so far a suspect has not been identified, and officials said they do not know if the fires are an act of a single person or a group of people.
“The thing that connects them as a pattern is that they are incendiary and in the same geographical area,” Glew said.
He added that arson, which can carry a felony charge in California, is one of the hardest crimes to prove.
“You basically have to have somebody at the scene witness the individual set the fire, direct circumstantial evidence, or a clear motive that explains intent,” he said. “Without the community’s help, finding and arsonist is very hard.”
Fire officials encourage neighborhoods to form organized watches and to report any suspicious behavior immediately to the Santa Monica Police Department’s communications center at (310) 458-8491.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 9, 2002. Read the original PDF.