Chief: San Juan fire suspicious, but cause unclear so far

Fire investigators are calling the San Juan Bautista blaze Saturday suspicious but have not determined a cause as of yet, Fire Chief Mike O’Connor said Friday.
O’Connor confirmed that Monterey County arson investigators are continuing their probe, while insurance investigators will be at the 35 Washington St. location Wednesday. The building and its three businesses – a Chinese restaurant, antique shop and lamp store – were destroyed in the Saturday fire.
“They were still trying to get some of the pictures people took at the early part of the fire and all that,” O’Connor said of arson investigators.
O’Connor on Friday relayed investigators’ latest designation of “suspicious but undetermined” and also confirmed estimated damage amounts. The building owner projected the damage to contents in the building at $300,000 and the building itself – which will be a total loss – at $1 million.
“That building’s going to have to be torn down – that whole block from the Chinese restaurant that way,” the chief said.
The buildings will have to be brought up to code in some areas as well, O’Connor said.
“It’s going to take them a while,” he said.
Look back for more.