Surveillance captured the moment arsonists ignited a massive fire at a tire shop in South Los Angeles.

On Aug. 2 at around 5 a.m., the suspects were seen arriving at Vermont Tires, a family-owned shop located in the 6900 block of Vermont Avenue.

Security video captured two men on bicycles throwing an object through a gate and onto a pile of tires. Flames suddenly exploded and continued growing before the suspects quickly fled the area.

“I’m imagining it might have been a gasoline-soaked rag,” said Misael Guevara, an employee at Vermont Tires, of the mystery object thrown by the arsonists. “I’m not too sure. I’ve never seen anything like that happen before.”

More than 100 tires, several parked cars and costly equipment were torched as the massive flames continued moving toward the walls of the tire shop. The flames eventually spread to an auto shop next door, Brothers Auto Repair. 

Los Angeles Fire Department crews arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames before the main structure was destroyed.

Both businesses were devastated by the fire, which left a trail of costly damages behind.

“Including machines and tires, overall we’re looking at about $10,000 to $13,000 [in damage],” Guevara said. “That’s not including the mechanic side because they lost two vehicles and one of them alone is $20,000 because it was complete already.”

“It’s very devastating,” said Mirca Garcia, owner of Vermont Tires. “We’ve been a part of the community for 25-plus years. My mom and dad built the tire shop. They were affected tremendously and it’s a big financial loss.”

Both family-owned establishments were forced to shut down as they struggled to pick up the pieces while losing income from potential business.

“Today, we’re able to open but it’s not as it usually is because it’s a safety hazard for my dad and for the workers,” Garcia said.

The fire is now being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department and arson investigators. 

The face of at least one of the arsonists was captured on security video. The shop owners are hoping the suspects will be caught soon before they destroy another home or business.

“We lost a lot of money and unfortunately so did our neighbors,” Guevara said. “We’re just trying to get back on our feet and run our business again.”

Two GoFundMe pages created to help the tire and auto body shops recover from the fire can be found here and here.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the LAPD at 1-877-527-3247. Anonymous tips can be provided to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or online at lacrimestoppers.org.

Former Major League Baseball player and executive Billy Bean has died at age 60, the league announced on Tuesday.

Bean, a Santa Ana, California native who attended Loyola Marymount University, succumbed to leukemia, the league said on X, formerly Twitter.

An outfielder, Bean played professionally for 10 years, six of which were spent in the majors. He ended with a lifetime batting average of .226, with 108 hits and 5 home runs for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

Despite his limited professional success — he only appeared in 51 games for the Dodgers in the 1989 season — Bean still made an impact on the game.

In 1999, the New York Times noted he was the “first major league baseball player to publicly discuss his homosexuality to this extent” when he came out as a member of the LGBTQ community. In recent years, Bean — not to be confused with Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics executive featured in the book and movie “Moneyball” — served as MLB’s senior vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion and special assistant to the commissioner.

“Over the last 10 years, Billy worked passionately and tirelessly with MLB and all 30 Clubs, focusing on player education, LGBTQ inclusion, and social justice initiatives to advance equality in the game for all,” the MLB said.

It is for those efforts that Bean will be remembered, Commissioner Rob Manfred said in the MLB’s announcement.

“Manfred called Billy ‘one of the kindest and most respected individuals I have ever known’ and someone who ‘made Baseball a better institution, both on and off the field,” Manfred said.

A vegetation fire in San Bernardino burned multiple hillside homes to the ground on Monday, devastating multiple families including one who lost their three beloved dogs. 

The fast-moving blaze, dubbed the Edgehill Fire, broke out at 2:40 p.m. near the 3000 block of Beverly Drive and forced evacuations for all residents living on the south side of Ridge Line Drive, San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesperson Eric Sherwin said Monday. 

Residents living on the north side of Edgehill Road west to Beverly Drive and east to Circle Road were also ordered to evacuate, according to Cal Fire. 

The community most affected by the blaze, Little Mountain, is “not unaccustomed” to fire, Sherwin said, adding that by the time fire crews arrived on scene, many people were already evacuating. 

Sky5 video showed several homes burned down to their foundations, including the residence of the Hernandez family, whose three dogs – Arnie, Vinnie and Mookie – were home alone when the blaze broke out. 

“My husband and I bought this house almost three-and-a-half years ago,” Erika Hernandez said.  “We were first-time homebuyers, and we were so happy about this house.” 

“It was everything we worked for, and now it’s gone,” she added. 

As of early Tuesday morning, the 100-acre fire was 75% contained, fire officials said. More than 200 firefighters were assigned to the blaze on Monday afternoon, and crews remained in the area overnight to extinguish the flames. 

KTLA 5’s Carlos Herrera spoke with Sherwin on Tuesday morning, who emphasized the importance of the overnight firefight.

“That was our goal last night knowing that we were going to have some recovery in the overnight hours with lower temperatures,” Sherwin said. “And the fact that we got our containment from 25 up to 75% speaks not only to the work of the firefighters but taking advantage of those low temperatures.”

Evacuation orders remained in effect for all residents Tuesday except those living on Ridge Line Drive, but in an update issued shortly before 9 p.m. Monday, the San Bernardino Police Department said that the fire was “very much under control.” 

An evacuation center for impacted residents was set up at Cajon High School. A person was detained and then released in connection to the fire, police added. 

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

The interview with San Bernardino County Fire Department spokesperson Eric Sherwin can be viewed below.