Clinic Hit by Two Fires That Are Termed Suspicious

For the second time in three weeks, fire has shut patients, doctors and nurses out of the Family Health Plan clinic in Hawaiian Gardens and arson investigators Monday called the latest incident suspicious.

Patients of the health maintenance organization were diverted to other clinics in the area. Los Angeles County fire and sheriff’s investigators searched for clues amid the charred areas of the clinic at 21520 Pioneer Blvd. on the grounds of Charter Community Hospital.

Arson experts are trying to determine why two apparently separate blazes broke out Sunday night two hours apart at different locations in the building. The second blaze erupted as firefighters finished mopping up the first.

On June 28, in the same building, smoke from a fire that was confined to a janitor’s closet routed about 285 patients and medical personnel. That fire did little more than smoke damage and the clinic reopened the next day. The cause was believed to have been a discarded cigarette.

Sunday night’s blazes, however, caused more extensive damage--especially from smoke and water that entered the clinic laboratory.

Janice Atzen, regional public relations manager for Family Health Plan, said Monday that it was unknown when the outpatient clinic would reopen.

Acute care was being provided at the nearby hospital, which is managed by Family Health Plan, she said.

Fire Capt. Walter G. Lewis estimated damage at $125,000. In all, he said, about 60 firefighters fought the two blazes.

The first fire Sunday was reported at about 8:26 p.m. and is believed to have started on the first floor of the north wing of the building in a storage or janitorial closet, Lewis said.

Two hours later, as firefighters were rolling up their hoses, a second and more damaging fire was discovered in an office on the first floor, Lewis said. That blaze, he said, spread to the second floor of the two-story wing, which is empty except for two private doctors’ offices and work areas for a few administrative personnel from the nearby hospital.

The south wing is three stories and houses the Family Health Plan clinic and its laboratory.

Atzen said security guards are on the hospital property around the clock, but she said that she did not know if they were also inside the clinic building all night.

Family Health Plan manages the hospital for Charter Community.