Phoenix investigators looking into overnight fire that damaged 2 businesses

PHOENIX - An early morning fire at a small business complex in Phoenix affected at least two businesses overnight, and one of the owners is calling the incident suspicious.

Investigators are still looking into the cause of the fire near 21st Avenue and Glendale, but one of the business owners has security video of someone in the area when the flames sparked.

"My doorbell camera caught him when he walked by, like the backside part of him," said Stan Jones, owner of South City Entertainment.

Jones watched the surveillance footage from his doorbell camera over and over in disbelief over what he was seeing.

"He had two blue canisters, walked right down here, appeared off camera less than a minute later - fire, he took off running," said Jones.

An orange glow can be seen in the video after the figure runs away.

"You lose a sense of security," said Jones.

His recording equipment can probably be saved, but Joseph Mbah, who owns the Paradox Universe studio next door, isn't as lucky.

"Everything is gone," said Mbah. "We were told we have to rebuild from scratch…Things happen. It’s always difficult, but I also know that there might be opportunity for something new, so I’m looking forward to what comes next."

As part of the investigation, Phoenix fire investigators brought in Sonny, the department's ignitable liquid detection canine.

"I put him close to the area where I think or where they suspect an accelerant might’ve been used, and then I give him a hand motion and a simple command, and he starts sniffing," said Rob Simpson with the Phoenix Fire investigators task force. "If he sniffs something that he detects as an ignitable liquid, then he sits, he will put his nose to it."

The evidence Sonny found was scraped off the sidewalk and gathered in cans.

Jones, in the meantime, is focused on cleaning up and getting back to work.

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