A spate of fires destroyed a flower shop and a house in the San Fernando Valley Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.
A fire was reported at Mark’s Garden at 13838 W. Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks at about 11:20 p.m., according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
The blaze in the 3,000-square-foot shop was extinguished in 23 minutes, and a “well-coordinated firefight prevented fire damage to adjacent buildings,” fire officials said.
“The cause of the fire is considered suspicious – and was among a handful of rubbish/debris/vegetation fires that occurred in the general area at the time of the fire. The other fires were quickly extinguished by LAFD responders, before they could cause structural damage or injury. A team of LAFD Investigators is actively investigating the fires,” the LAFD said in an alert.
One of those other blazes, this one at a 1,409-square-foot home at 4646 N. Nagle Ave. in Sherman Oaks, was reported at about 1:40 a.m. and was also extinguished in 23 minutes, the LAFD said.
Firefighters said this blaze is also “considered suspicious,” but investigators “have not yet issued a formal statement that tallies the fires, identifies suspect/s or connects these fires to the earlier suspicious fires in the 13800 block of Ventura Boulevard.”
While fire officials have not yet confirmed a total number of blazes, some estimates put the total at more than 20 fires.