Two adult retail stores that were successfully defending their right to exist in legal battles with local officials in separate parts of the country were burnt down within four days of each other.. Arson is suspected in both cases, though the two cases do not readily seem to be related.
On last Thursday night, Desire Video in Vancouver, Oregon, 11 miles North of Portland, was razed to the ground three weeks before it was scheduled to open.
Firefighters found a device behind the building when they arrived late Thursday.
"It appears the building was filled with propane from a construction-related propane tank on site and ignited remotely," Fire Chief Don Bivins told city officials in an e-mail message Friday.
Officials from the Vancouver fire and police departments and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are investigating the case.
For the past year, the Van Mall Neighborhood Association has tried to stop construction of the building. The group held a meeting hours before the fire started. Afterward, they talked about their unsuccessful legal efforts to halt construction and about assembling "as many grandmothers as possible" to knit and pass out cookies outside the business once it opened, Ron Rasmussen, association chairman of the association, said.
Members also talked after the meeting about videotaping customers and recording their license plates in an attempt to reduce patronage, Rasmussen said.
Rasmussen said he did not think any association member would set fire to the place.
Then on Sunday, Blue Sky Video, an adult book and video store that opened last November in Northern Kentucky was also set on fire. The store was temporarily closed because of legal fights with local officials. Recently however, it had won a series of legal battles, including a decision that declared that Louisville-Jefferson County Metro Government adult ordinances were unconstitutional.
Blue Sky Video was set to reopen within ten days. Unfortunately, it was heavily damaged. It is estimated that there was $200,000 worth of inventory and equipment in the store - although the owner was only insured for about $70,000.
Louisville Metro Police investigators determined ''there was definitely some kind of accelerant poured on the floor,'' Smith said.
The glass had been broken out of the rear exit, indicating an entry by unknown persons at that point.
There is nothing to indicate that the arsons are connected at this time.
Both stores are being built again, with owners having declared their intentions to stand their ground.
For a related story about the Oregon store, click here.
For a related story on the Kentucky story, click here.
