In December, one of L.A.’s biggest arson fires gutted the huge DaVinci apartment complex. Mayor Garcetti said the fire caused up to $90m damage, and another official said, it "could have been a lot worse. Wind change, different atmospheric conditions, it could have been a $200m fire."
Tuesday, after a 6-month investigation, they arrested a suspect, who has pleaded not guilty.
The torching of the DaVinci was the biggest unsolved arson downtown since the LA Public Library burned on April 29, 1986. That’s a day Off-Ramp contributor Patt Morrison remembers well, and I spoke with her about it on the west steps of the library.
(The library burns. Credit: LAPL/ Security Pacific National Bank Collection)