Authorities search for possible arsonist after 4 consecutive fires in the Inland Empire

Investigators in the Inland Empire are looking for a possible serial arsonist after they responded to four suspicious fires within a few blocks of each other this weekend.

The fires included one at a San Bernardino dental office. Dr. Sanjay Patel said his heart sank when he saw what was left of his sign outside his office.

"To see it destroyed in such a short time span that's really heartbreaking it really is,” Dr. Patel said. 

At first he just thought someone started a fire in a trash bin as a way to keep warm.

"I didn't think it was anything suspicious or anything like that, it's just homeless people," Dr. Patel said. 

Then Dr. Patel heard about the other fires that happened just about a block away, all of them erupting within about the same five-hour time frame on Saturday.

"This was out of the blue, I did not expect something like that to happen here,” Patel said. 

San Bernardino County Fire Department investigators said the first two fires were started in a vacant building that used to be part of American Sports University. One fire happened at around 5:40 Saturday evening and another happened that same night around 9 p.m. In both cases, firefighters were able to put out the flames before they got out of hand.

But at 9:30 p.m. fire crews who responded to the first two fires noticed smoke coming from a neighboring building. That building also had a fire inside of it and firefighters also found someone hanging from a window. They rescued that person who was not injured.

At around 10 p.m., someone lit the trash bin fire that destroyed Dr. Patel's sign.

"When you have four fires within a five hour period within a block and a half radius that's obviously suspicious,” Jeff Kraus, a city spokesperson, said. 

He said city leaders are working very closely with police and fire investigators to try and identify the arsonist or arsonists.

He says at this point it's still unclear if the Saturday fires are connected to a small fire on Nov. 17 at the American Sports University building. That's where firefighters had to rescue three people who were inside.

“We hope that we can identify the individual or individuals who are responsible so that there aren't additional fires started before they look at a place that has people living at it,” Kraus said. 

As for Dr. Patel, he's glad his building didn't burn down and he's hoping his insurance will cover the damage.

"By claiming this I hope I don't lose my policy because that's the other thing you have to worry about is that when you claim vandalism they start to not want to cover you and that becomes an issue as well,” Patel said. 

Investigators are hoping surveillance video from nearby businesses will help them identify the person who started these fires.

Anyone with information is asked to call the San Bernardino County Fire Department.