Indio fire at old Lucky’s store was human-caused
Cal Fire released its incident report for the supermarket fire in Indio that occurred on the morning of May 7.
The fire ignited at the old Lucky’s grocery store located at 45-858 Rubidoux Street, near Monroe and Highway 111. Investigators discovered the fire was human-caused, however, they still haven’t determined the exact cause of the fire, according to officials.
The building consisted of the 40,000 square-foot vacant grocery store and six strip mall-style units. Firefighters said the smoke was coming from the vacant portion of the building.
The fire progressed through the empty part of the building, eventually leading to a total loss. Fire crews were able to prevent the fire from spreading to the other stores, but those businesses did sustain damage.
Officials with Cal Fire said in the report that several training exercises had been held at the vacant building so they were familiar with the property. It was also common knowledge that there was a notable transient presence in the area; both surrounding the vacant portion of the building and presumably inside as well.
The investigation also revealed the sprinkler system on the west side of the building wasn’t operational. Several sprinkler heads and the shutoff were missing, according to the incident report.
Due to the intensity and consumption of the fire, investigators weren’t able to determine the specific area of origin or the exact cause.
