© Dan Steinberg/Associated PressFirefighters helped a man, and a cage of birds, out of his apartment as vehicles burned underneath in Sun Valley, Los Angeles.
After a night when nearly 20 cars were torched in Hollywood, in parking areas under apartment buildings or beside homes while people slept, area fire stations called in extra staff and increased patrols on Friday evening, awaiting a second strike, fire officials said.
Just after midnight, it came. By dawn on Saturday, more than a dozen additional cars had been charred in different neighborhoods, again, it appeared, because they were underneath or near people's homes, according to Capt. Jamie E. Moore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Fire Department.
"It's alarming," Captain Moore said, "especially since it is happening between midnight and 6 a.m., when people are sleeping."
Sgt. Keith Green of the Los Angeles Police Department said that no arrests had been made by Saturday evening but that more than one person had been detained and questioned. No one was seriously injured.
Nicole Nishida, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, said that the fires appeared to be arson.
The latest rash of fires started around midnight, and the 911 calls came moments apart, first from North Hollywood, sending firefighters scrambling to the new area. At about 3 a.m. the calls stopped, but the lull was momentary.
At 4:18 a.m. came another call, now to the southwest, in the Fairfax district. It was followed by even more reports of similar fires.
"We stationed them in Hollywood in anticipation of a busy night," said Captain Moore. "And whoever was doing this moved north on us, and southwest."
In most cases, fire alarms alerted residents to the blaze, Captain Moore said.
There was at least one case of a minor injury. On Friday morning, a firefighter was injured when he fell from a ladder, according to Inspector Brian Riley, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He was treated at a local hospital and released, Inspector Riley said.
Over $1 million in damage to vehicles and homes has been reported, according to Captain Moore, including to a single-family house in the Hollywood Hills that was once occupied by Jim Morrison, the lead singer of The Doors. Cars burn fast, he said, and almost all were charred. No particular make of car was singled out, he said.
"We just want to catch this guy," Captain Moore said. "If there is anything that's great about this, it's that our firefighters have protected anybody from losing their lives, but the amount of loss to structure and property has been huge."
Sergeant Green of the police department said that the method used to ignite the fires was not being released.
On Thursday morning, half a day before the first fires, a man was arrested in a similar episode, suspected of setting fire to a car in a parking area under a 10-unit apartment complex in the Hollywood area, Captain Moore said. Sergeant Green said that it was not known whether the man, Samuel Arrington, 22, was connected to the fires in the following days. And on Saturday, the story behind them remained an unsettling mystery.
"Who knows what the agenda of the person is," Sergeant Green said. "We can't pinpoint their reason, or who's involved."
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