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Downtown Sacramento Blaze One Of Four Suspicious Fires In One Day

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Four suspicious fires in Sacramento, including one at a huge commercial warehouse that destroyed a priceless collection of cars kept firefighters busy on Thursday.

It was a day of devastating damage and even evacuations.

The first broke out at 11:43 a.m. on 33rd Street, where a homeowner says she lost almost everything she owns.

The second started at 12:22 on 49th Street, leaving a resident homeless and without clothes and furniture.

The third began at 1:21 on N Street and claimed the lives of two cats.

The last one was a huge blaze along E Street in Downtown Sacramento.

"They told me to grab all my stuff and get out fast," one evacuee said.

The final blaze ripped through a huge warehouse on E Street, and became the fourth blaze to be called suspicious. Investigators believe the four fires may be linked.

"The similarity is every single one of the properties that had fires today are adjacent to an alleyway," said Sacramento Asst. Chief Niko King. "What's more significant is again, the timeframe and the geographic proximity."

Firefighters had no hope of saving the Downtown business, the Sacramento Theatrical Lighting Annex. By the time they arrived on scene, the roof

Too overcome to speak on camera, the owner told investigators he stored old, restored cars here and other equipment.

Flames threatened to spread to nearby homes, forcing neighbors to grab what they could and get out.

"When everybody was pulling their stuff out, I said it's getting too close for me, so I need to evacuate my stuff too," said evacuee Larry Dayton.

City leaders credit firefighters for stopping the spread of the fire, but urge everyone to be on alert with a possible firebug on the loose.

"This is a huge fire. I haven't seen anything like this in my time on the council, or in this neighborhood," said Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen. "We just need to make sure we catch who did it."

Firefighters say the other three fires didn't delay their response to the last blaze at 14th and E streets.

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