LA on edge after Hollywood-area arson fires

Ringo H.W. Chiu / AP

An investigator works the scene where fire caused damage to a two-story apartment at 1156 N. Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood, section of Los Angeles on Friday.

By NBC News and msnbc.com news services

LOS ANGELES -- Police and fire officials on Friday were scrambling to investigate a series of 19 arson fires that ripped through parked cars in Hollywood and West Hollywood overnight and spread to some nearby homes -- including one once occupied by Doors frontman Jim Morrison.

There were 13 vehicle fires within the borders of the city of Los Angeles, and another six in West Hollywood areas patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff?s Department.

?We?ve called in additional investigative teams,? said Los Angeles Fire Capt. Jaime Moore. ?The county has brought in L.A. County Sheriff arson bomb teams, and the LAPD is on tactical alert.?

The fast-moving investigation is aimed at preventing the arsonist or arsonists from striking again, investigators said. On Friday, they hope to scour video from the parking garages where some of the cars were located in hopes of finding an image of whoever set the fires.

"This is an arsonist working," said LA City Fire Deputy Chief Mario D. Rueda. "These are very dangerous fires." So far, the only injury was to a firefighter injured in a fall, but Rueda warned that?"these fires can lead to loss of life and injury."

Investigators hoped to make enough progress?Friday to prevent additional arson attacks tonight and over the holiday weekend.

The four-hour onslaught started shortly after midnight and sent firefighters scrambling to douse the flames. In nearly every case, the fire started in a parked car. Dozens of people were rousted from their homes, and?power was disrupted in several neighborhoods.

One of the homes damaged by the arson fires was in Laurel Canyon where Morrison and his girlfriend once lived, neighbors said.

Sandy Gendel, who owns a nearby restaurant, said he heard explosions from what he later believed were car tires. He saw flames 30 feet high coming from the deck of the former Morrison house and a gutted Mazda Miata.

"It was just like a towering inferno," Gendel said.

Mike Meadows / AP

A Los Angeles Fire Department engine arrives at a fire in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles early Friday,

Jeff Dorman, who lives in the neighborhood, said he and his wife were awakened by noise in the street.

As he and his neighbors watched the firefight, he said they worried about embers floating toward their houses because they are so close together. They also were concerned about a firebug being loose in their neighborhood.

"One spark could have been a huge problem," Dorman said. "The fire department did a fantastic job."

Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who represents much of the Hollywood area where blazes were set, urged residents to call 911 or a fire hotline at 213-893-9800 if they have information about the fires, or if they see someone who appears to be preparing to set new fires.

The deliberately set blazes come on the heels of another set of vehicle fires in the same area. Two men were arrested Thursday in those fires. Officials would not say whether the two series of fires were related.

This article includes reporting from Sharon Bernstein at NBCLosAngeles.com and The Associated Press.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/30/9833165-la-on-edge-after-arson-fires-hit-vehicles-and-homes-in-hollywood-area

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