Man arrested on suspicion of setting fire that destroyed 2 buildings at Gualala Community Center

Gualala area residents on Tuesday continued to lament the loss of two buildings that made up the Gualala Community Center, which was destroyed Monday in a suspected arson fire.

The buildings included the center’s main hall, a local institution that for many decades hosted everything from weddings to nonprofit board meetings to the immensely popular, twice-monthly Pay ‘N’ Take community rummage sale that brought the community together.

Deputies with the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office on Monday arrested a 53-year-old man on suspicion of arson in connection with the fire, officials said. Roland Eskind, who officials said had arrived in the Gualala area at least a day before the fire, was identified through surveillance video and taken into custody, according to a sheriff’s news release.

But it was the loss of memories as much as the community space that residents were talking about Tuesday.

Robert Juengling, chair of the Gualala Municipal Advisory Council, in an email Tuesday called it a “devastating, tragic event. Quite a loss not only from its historic perspective but countless memories.”

Juengling said the structures destroyed in the fire — two of the center’s three buildings — served as a “focal point” for Gualala residents and will be sorely missed.

Gualala Community Center President Kevin Evans said the main hall, which had a kitchen, was often used to serve senior meals and regularly used for private functions, such as weddings and anniversaries. But its most popular event was the Pay ‘N’ Take sale, a hallmark event that attracted hundreds of visitors every first and second Saturday.

“I got a call about (the fire) at 5:30 and when I first heard about it, it broke my heart because it was such an iconic structure here that had been really built by the volunteers,” Evans said Tuesday morning.

David Fouts, a community center volunteer, said the buildings destroyed were used to sell donated clothing and kitchen items during the Pay ‘N’ Take sale. Fouts said the sales were a big source of revenue, with $30,000 to $40,000 a year going to the local food bank and senior center.

“Probably 50% of our income is going to be lost now,” Fouts said. “We would get so much clothing donated from the community as a gift, so much clothing donated from the community that one of the jokes was that there had to be a bunch of people running around town naked.”

Annan Paterson, president of the Rotary Club of Gualala, said the center also hosted the club’s annual student award luncheons for K-12 students. The club also held retreats and dinners there, she added.

Paterson said she has no doubt the building will be replaced.

“Our community, really came together around the storms in January and I know the community will come together again to help rebuild whatever that takes,” she said.

Deputies were first dispatched to the scene of the burning community center at 4:09 a.m. Monday in the small southern Mendocino County town of about 2,000 people. Firefighters from the South Coast Fire Protection District were in the process of putting out the fire when deputies arrived.

When they learned the fire may have been intentional, deputies requested assistance from sheriff’s detectives and an arson investigator with the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority. As they awaited a response from those agencies, deputies accessed video surveillance footage.

The video showed a man igniting a fire on the property and then fleeing on foot, officials said. The fire could be seen spreading rapidly and quickly engulfing the center.

Deputies obtained a detailed description of the clothes worn by the suspect and were able to locate Eskind by 7:52 a.m., in the 39000 block of South Highway 1 in Gualala, north of Sea Ranch. He was booked into Mendocino County jail.

Evans, the community center president, said the two buildings, with a combined 5,000 square feet, were destroyed and will have to be demolished. The remaining building, which is about 4,500 square feet, was recently built as additional space. That building was not damaged by the blaze.

Fouts said he thinks the cost of rebuilding will impact the center’s ability to donate funds to the community.

“So we're gonna have to demolish them and do some kind of starting over,” Fouts said. “Our insurance probably won't cover it all so I'm not exactly sure how that's going to play out.”

South Coast Fire Chief Jason Warner said he could not provide any details about how the suspect started the fire as it is still under investigation. Fire crews began their attack on the fire at about 3:30 a.m. Monday and had most of the larger flames extinguished within 30 minutes, he said.

Crews remained at the scene, putting out hot spots for another 10 hours, until 2 p.m., he added. At the height of the attack, firefighters were blasting the fire with about 3,000 gallons of water per minute.

South Coast Fire received help from several agencies, including Coast Life Support, Elk Volunteer Fire Department, the Anderson Valley Fire Department and the Redwood Coast, Timber Cove and North Sonoma Coast fire protection districts.

Warner estimated the damage totaled between $1.5 to $2 million.

But also lost were generations of memories and memorabilia at the community center, he said. Local residents have been gathering around the perimeter ever since, he added.

Evans said it’s going to take the entire community coming together to replace the buildings.

You can reach Staff Writer Martin Espinoza at 707-521-5213 or martin.espinoza@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @pressreno.