WERE HOUSE FIRES ARSON OR ACCIDENT?

Byline: Daily News

NORTH HILLS -- Either someone is trying to burn down a certain San Fernando Valley home, or the homeowners are just unlucky.

Firefighters are investigating the second fire in 24 hours at the same home in the 9700 block of Monogram Avenue, officials said Thursday.

After responding about 6 a.m. Wednesday to a car on fire in a carport of the two-story home, firefighters returned Thursday to find the second story engulfed in flames, said d'Lisa Davies, Los Angeles Fire Department spokeswoman.

"I said, 'Hey, that sounds familiar,'" Davies said when she heard the second call come through at 6:26 a.m. Thursday. "And somebody on the radio said, 'This building burnt yesterday."'

Davies said the fire Thursday burned through the roof and created such a large plume of smoke that fire officials notified authorities at nearby Van Nuys Airport, worried the smoke might cause visibility problems for aircraft. Authorities at the airport said no flights were diverted because of the fire.

Arson investigators were trying to determine the cause of Thursday's fire to determine whether there was any connection between the two blazes, Davies said.

It was unclear whether anybody was home when Thursday's fire broke out, but there were no injuries reported, she said. Damage estimates were unavailable, and the homeowners could not be reached for comment.

CAPTION(S):

photo, map

Photo:

Los Angeles Fire Department personnel look over the scene of a house fire on Monogram Avenue in North Hills on Thursday.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

Map:

Home fire

Daily News