There are very few buildings that had as low of a fire load as The Sub’s front windows and front room. There is probably no building in San Luis Obispo that an incendiary device of this size would have been safer and easier to put out.

The front room, behind the display window box where the unknown flammable liquid device was put (back wall and floor), had no flammable merchandise along any of the walls and did not even partially burn until the roof collapsed into it.

Behind the window box wall was a mirrored glass wall with glass shelves displaying ONLY items made of glass and ceramic. These items do not have any cardboard or other outer packaging. The glass and metal display cases contained only items of glass and ceramic and were, therefore, not flammable!

The front window box had a floor raised to 3" below the window and had no merchandise on the floor or under the floor. There were 15 fire-treated paper "star" lamps with 13-watt "twisty" bulbs hanging from the ceiling of the window box.

The other front window box on adjacent wall did not have a raised floor and was empty except for colored paper on the back wall, a mannequin, and jacketless LP records pinned up as display.

There was nothing in this part of the store to supply fuel for a fire of any significance - Certainly nothing that explains the huge 8'+ flames shooting out of the window display boxes.