Officials say that they believe Monday morning’s massive fire in downtown Los Angeles was set on purpose. The blaze, which engulfed an unfinished apartment building, and burned so hot that it melted nearby highway signs, will be investigated as soon as the site has cooled down enough to allow experts to comb through the wreckage. “There may have been some foul play,” L.A. Fire Department Captain Jaime Moore told the Los Angeles Times.
Many of the city’s major freeways, including the northbound 110, were shut down well into the day, though the side streets remained navigable with relative ease. Homeless people were awakened by the heat; commuters marveled at the spectacle; and untold millions of dollars in damage was done to neighboring buildings. One 13-year veteran of the L.A. fire department told public radio station KPCC that it was a once-in-a-career fire.
Officials have not identified any likely motive for the blaze, if it was arson. However, the fire coincides with nationwide protests about killings by police. Demonstrators in Ferguson, MO used arson to express outrage.
Image: AP
Senior Editor-at-Large Joel B. Pollak edits Breitbart California and is the author of the new ebook, Wacko Birds: The Fall (and Rise) of the Tea Party, available for Amazon Kindle.
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