$75,000 REWARD PROPOSED FOR BREAK IN THE DA VINCI FIRE PROBE IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES; UPDATE: $175,000 ACTUALLY OFFERED TO ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THE STARTING OF THE FIRE
January 20, 2015
A massive fire engulfed an apartment
building construction site in downtown Los Angeles. Investigators concluded
Thursday that the blaze was deliberately set. (Nancy Yuille / Associated Press)
$75,000 reward proposed in massive
Da Vinci apartment fire
Los Angeles city officials are
weighing whether to offer a $75,000 reward for information leading to the
arrest and conviction of the person or people who started a destructive fire
that consumed an apartment complex under construction in downtown Los Angeles
last month.
City Councilman Jose Huizar proposed
the reward Tuesday in the wake of the late-night blaze that consumed a
seven-story building in the Da Vinci apartment complex in the 900 block of
Fremont Avenue.
An elevated view of all that is left
of the 1.3 million-square-foot Da Vinci apartment complex that was destroyed by
fire earlier last month.
Huizar, whose district includes
downtown Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, is hoping the reward will compel
witnesses to come forward with information and help solve the case.
No one was injured in the Dec. 8
fire, which took 250 firefighters an hour and half to extinguish.
Heat and flames from the blaze
caused damage to the 110 Freeway and nearby buildings. The fire caused
between $25 million and $30 million in damage, city officials said.
Detectives and arson specialists with the LAPD,
Los Angeles Fire Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives combed the 180,000-square-foot site for evidence.//_____________________________________________________//
UPDATE: January 21, 2015
$170K reward offered in probe of downtown Los Angeles fire
Posted: Wednesday, January 21, 2015 5:42 pm
|
Updated: 7:08 pm, Wed Jan 21, 2015.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A $170,000 reward was offered Wednesday for information that leads to the person responsible for igniting a huge inferno that destroyed an unfinished apartment building and extensively damaged adjacent office towers in downtown Los Angeles.
The reward, announced by officials at a news conference outside City Hall, will include $75,000 each from the city and the building developer, and $20,000 from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The City Council must formally approve its contribution at Friday's meeting.
Carlos A. Canino, special agent in charge of the ATF Los Angeles field division, said it's the largest reward he's seen in 25 years with the bureau.
"I think it's unprecedented and the reason it's unprecedented is because of the magnitude of this fire," he said.
The Dec. 8 fire gutted the 1.3 million-square-foot Da Vinci complex, which was in the wood-framing stage when it went up like a massive bonfire visible for miles across the city.
The heat was so intense that it cracked or shattered hundreds of windows in neighboring office buildings, igniting small fires in one of them, and damaged an adjacent freeway where traffic was brought to a halt. Despite the intensity no one was hurt.
Damage was estimated at $20 million to $30 million.
Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas called it one of the largest structure fires his department has battled in a generation, and required the commitment of more than a third of the city's on-duty personnel.
A multi-agency investigation subsequently determined the fire was an act of arson. Investigators also released video of two people who were near the scene the morning of fire, calling them persons of interest rather than suspects.
Cleanup of the burned construction site and repair of the adjacent damaged buildings continues.
