Third fire sparks at Indio building in 3 months, city to help owner clean up

The third fire in three months ignited at an Indio building Thursday morning. The building in the 83200 block of Indio Boulevard has been vacant since last year when firefighters were called to the first fire that sparked on December 19.

Then another fire occurred in the same building on February 1. According to Cal Fire, Thursday morning’s fire was reported just before 7 a.m.

Once home to Absolute Quality Auto Body and JJ Battery, the building is now charred and gutted from flames in the last three months. Firefighters said a pile of debris caught fire Thursday morning and they were able to extinguish the flames in about 40 minutes.

Investigators haven’t determined the cause of any of the fires, but nearby businesses have their theories.

“A lot of people think it’s arson. It’s too obvious for arson. I think it’s the transients who go in there and cook and leave a fire,” said Anne Tucker, owner of Sunbird R.V. “Customers are all asking us about it. It’s a bad eyesore.”

News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 contacted Indio Mayor Lupe Ramos-Watson. She said the city is working with the property owner. It’s his responsibility to demolish the building or rebuild.

“It would be awesome if they built new buildings for this city to grow and look better,” said Torres.

The mayor hopes the owner’s decision will come soon, especially with the upcoming festivals heading to Indio.

Cal Fire is looking into the cause of the fire and we’ll deliver more details as the investigation moves forward.