While the total dollar value of claims may not wind up being catastrophic, the damage done was certainly dramatic during the spree of car bombings that struck Los Angeles over the New Year's weekend.
Dozens of vehicles were set ablaze, setting an entire city on edge as officials were initially unsure just how many perpetrators might be behind the attacks–and residents wondered when the arson would stop and if their cars might be next.
And because many vehicles in L.A. are parked beneath apartment buildings, the fires not only engulfed cars, but also led to heavy damages to homes as well (including at least one with a celebrity attachment: rock singer Jim Morrison's former home on what he dubbed "Love Street").
On Jan. 2, police arrested a suspect, Harry Burkhart, and tied him to as many as 50 fires.
(AP Photo/Mike Meadows)
Burning cars are shown in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles on Friday Dec.30, 2011. An arsonist torched cars early Friday, sending firefighters scrambling to put out more than a dozen blazes in Hollywood and neighboring West Hollywood. The fires started shortly after midnight and occurred over a four-hour span before dawn.
(AP Photo/Mike Meadows)
A Los Angeles Fire Department engine arrives at a fire in the Laurel Canyon section of Los Angeles on Friday Dec.30. In addition to the torched cars, the fires often spread to the apartments above.
(AP Photo/Mike Meadows)
A Los Angeles Fire Department firefighter is shown at a fire in West Hollywood, Calif., on Friday Dec.30. Dozens of vehicles were set on fire.
(AP Photo/Dan Steinberg)
The fires continued for three nights in a row. Here, Los Angeles Fire Department firefighters assist a man out of his apartment along with a cage of birds as multiple cars burn in a carport in the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2011.
(AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
A fire-damaged two-story apartment at 1156 N. Cahuenga Blvd. in Hollywood, section of Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)
Los Angeles City firefighter Dane Jackson investigates the scene where fire caused damage to a home once occupied by Doors frontman Jim Morrison, at 8021 Rothdell Trail in the Hollywood Hills, section of Los Angeles.
(AP Photo/Gus Ruelas)
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, left, smiles at arresting officer 30-year-old real estate attorney and reserve Los Angeles Deputy Sheriff Shervin Lalezary during a news conference of a joint task force announcing the apprehension of a prime suspect, Harry Burkhart, in the series of 53 blazes in the Los Angeles Area, Monday, Jan. 2, 2012.
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