A huge fire that gutted an unfinished downtown Los Angeles apartment complex, damaged three other buildings and shut down two freeways was arson, investigators said Thursday.
A joint local-federal investigation determined the Da Vinci Apartments complex was intentionally set ablaze, the Los Angeles Fire Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a news release.
Between $20 million and $30 million in damage to the seven-story complex was caused by the Dec. 8 fire at 900 West Temple Street, authorities said. Damages to businesses in nearby high-rise and to Caltrans property on the 110 Freeway had not yet been determined.
Details on how the fire was set were not being released amid the continuing criminal investigation, the release stated. A Fire Department spokesman said officials were not giving interviews on the arson finding.
Local fire investigators and those from the ATF’s National Response Team sifted through 75,000 square feet of debris, completing their on-site investigation Wednesday. Evidence that was recovered will be analyzed at an ATF lab.
“The work at the crime scene is finished, however our investigation is not over,” said ATF Special Agent in Charge Carlos A. Canino in the release. “ATF will continue to work together with our state and local partners to investigate this crime and bring those responsible to justice.”
Battalion Chief Robert Nelson, head of the Fire Department’s Arson/Counter-Terrorism Section, thanked the ATF for its help and said the cooperative effort would continue.
“Arson is a serious crime and we will use all of our available resources to arrest and prosecute any individuals involved in any arson fire in Los Angeles,” Nelson said.
Authorities were still seeking to find two people who were caught on video near the fire at the 526-unit structure. Those two individuals were thought to be witnesses, not suspects in the fire.
Anyone with information about the fire was urged to contact the Arson Section directly at 213-893-9850.