Jamaica Plain fire called arson

The fire that destroyed a real estate office in Jamaica Plain and damaged three other businesses on Monday has been ruled an arson, a Boston Fire Department spokesman said yesterday.

But Mayor Thomas M. Menino said that investigators do not believe a serial arsonist is responsible for the four fires that have hit businesses in the neighborhood in the last 13 months and have fueled fears among commercial property owners that someone is targeting Jamaica Plain.

``We have no information to say they're connected," Menino said yesterday as he walked out of an hourlong meeting with jittery business owners, who gathered at the Milky Way Lounge and Lanes on Centre Street to hear from Menino, Acting Fire Commissioner Kevin MacCurtain, and Acting Police Commissioner Al Goslin about the investigation into the fires.

During the meeting, officials handed out fliers for business owners to display in their windows offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone responsible for arsons in the city.

The money for the reward would come from the Boston office of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Boston Fire Department, which has a fund to reward informants who help convict arsonists.

Officials said a witness saw a tall, thin man running from the scene on Centre Street early Monday morning, when the blaze started at Pondside Realty and spread to a nail salon and a clothing shop that shares space with a hair-braiding shop.

Investigators still do not know how the blaze was started, but they believe that an accelerant was used, said Scott Salman, spokesman for the Fire Department.

Investigators have also ruled as arsons the March fire that destroyed five businesses along South Street and the July 2005 fire that destroyed El Oriental de Cuba, a popular eatery on Centre Street. The Aug. 17 fire in Forest Hills that destroyed a dentist's office and damaged at least three other businesses has been ruled suspicious, Salman said.

City officials said they plan to hold a meeting Monday with business owners to help them learn more about what insurance is available and how to improve security at their stores.

``I feel better knowing that we're all in this together," said Kathy Mainzer, co-owner of Milky Way Lounge and Lanes.

A fund-raiser is tentatively scheduled for October to help raise money for the fire victims. Other Jamaica Plain businesses have already hired employees of destroyed establishments while the owners rebuild.

Maria Cramer can be reached at mcramer@globe.com.