The Associated Press
VALLEJO, Calif. - A warehouse fire that destroyed about $100 million worth of rare vintage wines was deliberately set, authorities said Tuesday.
The Oct. 13 fire had been considered suspicious from the start, partly because the building, once used to repair submarines, had dense concrete walls that were thought to be fire resistant.
Investigators would not give specifics on the physical evidence they found.
A team of chemists, explosive experts and fire investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been on the scene since Saturday.
About 90 wineries had leased space in the building on the old Navy shipyard of Mare Island in Vallejo, about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Losses ranged from entire inventories of smaller wineries to private collections of rare vintages.