Sheriff’s arson investigators are looking in to a suspicious fire that closed Rattlesnake Slim’s in Newhall on Tuesday morning.
“I showed up for work and my place was wide open,” said Gordon Mehterian, owner of the coffeehouse that features Western music in the evenings. Although the interior was not burned, smoke infiltrated food storage areas and damaged merchandise in the main room.
Mehterian is not sure how long the popular musician's hangout will be closed, but he is determined to reopen.
Fire damaged the rear of the building at Rattlesnake Slim's in an early morning blaze
Inspector Fred Haralson of the L.A. County Fire Department said that firefighters responded to a call at 12:27 a.m. Tuesday at the Golden Oak shopping center on Lyons Avenue at Wayman Street, where flames were seen at the back of the building. Haralson said that knockdown came quickly and the fire was confined to the exterior of the building.
Detective Greg Everett said that the fire was a “whodunit” and that investigators are looking for tips from the public. It is not known if security cameras focused on the fire area have any useable information.
Mehterian said that the location is one that “everybody wants” but added he could not think of who might have set the early morning fire.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives division at (323) 881-7500.
