The cause of a fire that broke out early Friday morning at the
Club California apartment complex in Westwood is being investigated
by the Los Angeles Fire Department, and also by the Secret Service
under suspicions of alleged counterfeiting activity.
The fire was the second to occur in Room 511 at Club California
in a span of three days. Firefighters had cleared the vacant room
of flammable materials after a fire Tuesday night; that fire was
originally attributed to electrical failures by assistant apartment
manager Tanya Rudin.
No one was injured in Friday’s blaze, which was quickly
put out by the 30 firefighters who arrived on the scene to
extinguish the structure-confined fire, said Brian Humphrey,
spokesman for the fire department.
According to a letter distributed to residents by the
apartment’s management, the Secret Service is investigating
the fire under suspicions of illicit counterfeiting-related
activities.
“It is a possibility that the person who rented the unit
and who may have engaged in counterfeiting activity in the unit
started both fires as means of destroying evidence,” the
letter read.
While the fire department is also conducting an “active
investigation” of the two building fires, no official
conclusion has been reached.
“It would be rare to have two accidental fires at the same
building at such close date and proximity,” said
Humphrey.
Three fire investigators, who often work undercover, have been
assigned to the case and should reach a conclusion soon, said
Humphrey.
Special Agent Jeff Thomas of the Secret Service has been
assigned to the case and was unavailable for comment.
Residents of the building were unable to identify the previous
tenant who, according to the letter, lived in Room 511 starting in
September. Management asked for “any information regarding
the person who rented that apartment or any activity in the
unit” in the letter.
Mykil Bachoian, a second-year student, said he spoke to an
investigating agent, who said the suspect probably entered the
vacant fifth-floor room the night of the second fire through a
sunroof, as the door was boarded up.
Bachoian, a resident of the fifth floor at Club California, also
said he heard banging noises on the roof the night of the second
fire.
Fire alarms failed to go off after the blaze ignited, and many
residents said they woke up only from the noise of firefighters and
people’s screams.
Residents on the fifth floor expressed concern over the fire
alarms, which failed to sound automatically during both fires, and
had to be pulled manually by residents.
Residents of the building were unable to identify the occupant
who had apparently lived in the affected room at some point last
quarter, and management is currently seeking information about the
person who rented the apartment or any others connected to the
fires.
“Just the fact that there are 1,000 people (at Club
California), each person is so inconspicuous,” Bachoian
said.
With the results of both investigations still pending, Club
California increased security over the weekend as a response to the
fires, and is offering a reward of $1,000 for information leading
to the arrest of those responsible for the fires.