Arson may have caused L.A. fire, authorities say

LOS ANGELES -- Authorities believe that a large fire at a Los Angeles apartment complex on Monday that caused millions in damage and took 250 firefighters to put out was caused by arson.

Inspectors from the Los Angeles city and county fire departments have halted their investigations until Wednesday to await the arrival of 20 more agents from the U.S.Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to figure out how the blaze started, CBS Los Angeles reported.

A team of professionals, including chemists, electrical engineers and explosives experts were expected to join the investigation. Officials are suspicious of the fire because of its low intensity and the way it spread so rapidly across the 245-unit DaVinci Apartment complex near downtown Los Angeles.

"They have laboratories and personnel available to us so we are going to make use of every resource available," LAFD spokesman David Ortiz said.

There were no injuries in the fire, but damages are estimated to be in the tens of millions of dollars. For much of Monday morning, the fire shut down part of the 110 Freeway.

Firefighters were still extinguishing hotspots and a private company has been hired to help with demolition efforts to stabilize the structure.

f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.