Thanksgiving Coffee Company fire was arson

<p>Investigators said Thursday that the blaze that roared through Thanksgiving Coffee Co. in Fort Bragg on Monday was set deliberately, confirming firefighters' early suspicions of arson.</p><p>“It is arson, very definitely,” said Battalion Chief Larry Grafft,<NO1>cq<NO> a fire investigator with Cal Fire's Mendocino County unit.</p><p>He said there appeared to have been a break-in prior to the fire, which was reported around 9:30 p.m. on what was a holiday for Thanksgiving's workers. </p><p>He declined to say what other evidence supported the assessment of arson, citing an on-going investigation with the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office.</p><p>The fire would be the largest case of arson in the county in at least 15 years, said Lt. James Noe with the sheriff's office. </p><p>Detectives were searching for witnesses and checking out possible suspects, he said. So far they had little to go on.</p><p>“It's not looking good,” he said.</p><p>Jenais Zarlin, Thanksgiving's director of business development, said they were too busy dealing with the crises to absorb the fact that someone apparently tried to destroy the company.</p><p>The fire caused major damage to Thanksgiving's roasting plant, which is near Noyo Harbor just outside the southern boundary of the coastal town of Fort Bragg. In large parts of the building, charred lumber was the only thing standing.</p><p>But the flames spared the company's vital assets — its commercial roaster and its warehouse of unroasted beans. And even with widespread water damage to the building, data stored on computers and servers was preserved, Zarlin said.</p><p>On Friday, Thanksgiving expected to get back the first of the beans it had sent to three area roasters who stepped in to help. The coffee will be delivered to customers on Saturday. </p><p>As soon as propane and gas service is restored, the company plans to resume its own roasting, perhaps as soon as next week, Zarlin said.</p><p>“We are scrambling,” Zarlin said. “But we are keeping our heads above water.”</p><p>The fire, she said, will ultimately make the company stronger. Workers are bonding together, the public is voicing its support, and the company will eventually rebuild with more modern facilities, she said.</p><p>“You don't ever want something like this to happen,” Zarlin said. “Given the situation, we are in a good position to move forward.”</p><p>A North Coast institution, Thanksgiving Coffee has been roasting beans since the early 1970s, garnering a reputation for taste and for being a leader in fair trade and organic coffee. It roasts about 750,000 pounds of beans a year and recorded revenues of about $4.6 million last year. </p><p>With 35 employees at its plant, and a dozen more at its café in the town of Mendocino, the company is also a major employer in Fort Bragg, where many consider it a flagship for the area's progressive values.</p><p>Lt. Noe asked that anyone with information about the case call the Mendocino County Sheriff's tip line at 707-467-9159.</p>