Fire that burned small, family-owned Southern California restaurants likely arson

Several small, family-owned businesses in Whittier are reeling after their restaurants and shops went up in a fiery inferno last week, leaving them destroyed in an incident that authorities believe was possibly arson.

The Sept. 10 blaze in the 13500 block of Telegraph Road, near Mills Avenue was reported just before 2:30 a.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

While it only took firefighters a half hour to contain the blaze, much of the shopping center was destroyed, including Pizzamania and El Camino Family Restaurant, both of which have been in the community for decades.

Bill Pilkington, the general manager of Pizzamania, as well as other business owners in the shopping center, have no idea why someone would be compelled to set the fire.

“I can’t fathom what would cause someone to do this,” he told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff.

Damon Brown, with El Camino Family Restaurant, echoed the frustration and confusion.

“It has hurt every day since this happened,” he said.

While the exact cause of the fire is not yet known, many of the business owners, as well as investigators, believe an arsonist had been casing the building.

Surveillance footage outside of El Camino Family Restaurant and another impacted business shows a man carrying several unknown items approach the storefronts on three different occasions, all very near the time the fire was reported.

Investigators called the fire suspicious and explained to KTLA some of the telltale signs of arson.

“The fact that it started rather quickly and at the time of day,” L.A. County Sheriff’s Department Lt. Bryan Sirkel said. “They’ve already ruled out natural causes, weather related or any other type of mechanical issues.”

Investigators told KTLA that so far, no arrests have been made in connection with the fire but added that they are following up on several leads.

A GoFundMe campaign has been organized to help the employees of Pizzamania who have been left unemployed as a result of the fire.

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