Arson Fire Closes Downtown Parking Garage for Safety Reasons

Published on October 05, 2021

Palo Alto, CA – An unknown suspect set an unoccupied vehicle on fire on the basement level of a downtown Palo Alto parking garage last night.  City building officials have closed the garage for safety reasons while the investigation continues.  There were no injuries.

On Monday, October 4, 2021, at about 11:45 p.m., our 24-hour dispatch center received a call from a nearby resident reporting smoke billowing from the Cowper / Webster Garage at 520 Webster Street. Officers and personnel from the Palo Alto Fire Department responded immediately, and located a vehicle fully engulfed in fire on the basement level of the multi-story garage.

The initial responding fire engine upgraded the event to include additional units from the Palo Alto Fire Department and Mountain View Fire Department.  They were able to extinguish the fire.  No injuries were reported.  City building officials closed the garage for safety reasons until such time as the structure is deemed safe for re-entry.

The vehicle that was burned was a black 2007 Toyota Avalon four-door.  Police contacted the owner of the vehicle, who reported that they had parked and left the vehicle on the basement level that morning.

Investigators from the Palo Alto Fire Department determined that the fire appeared to be of suspicious origin and are now actively conducting an arson investigation alongside detectives from the Palo Alto Police Department.  There is no suspect information.

At about 11:01 p.m. on October 4, personnel from the Palo Alto Fire Department had also responded to Lot “S,” another City-owned parking garage at 445 Bryant Street, for a fire alarm.  They discovered a trash can on fire on the basement level.  They quickly extinguished it, and there was no significant damage beyond the trash can itself.  Police and fire investigators are also investigating this incident as possibly related to the later fire.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call our 24-hour dispatch center at (650) 329-2413.  Anonymous tips can be e-mailed to paloalto@tipnow.org or sent via text message or voice mail to (650) 383-8984.