Arson fire spurs Salinas business owner to lobby for new law
After spending about $5,000 a month on overnight private security to protect his business from repeated break-ins and theft, Lars Frieberg, owner of the Salinas Valley Ford Truck Center in Salinas, knew he had to change tactics.
A neighboring business had installed an electrified security fence and the results were promising. Frieberg applied for the necessary permits from city hall and waited — and waited, to get the city’s final approval.
Frieberg is no stranger to city processes. He and his late father, Ron Frieberg were longstanding members of the Salinas business community.
After moving his family from the Bay Area in 1978, his father bought the local Salinas dealership in 1980 when it was located on Abbott Street and later co-developed the Auto Center Mall in 2000, which became the hub for auto dealerships in the city.
Lars had started his career at the family’s second facility, the Salinas Valley Ford Truck Center, working in every role from car washer on up to manager to learn the operation, eventually taking over ownership from his father.
Unlike the retail location at the Auto Center Mall, this facility dealt with service body trucks — work trucks, motorhomes, and due to their size, many of them were left outside on the lot.
Back in the mid-1980s, when Lars began working at the facility, there were no fences around the property, just one pole that kept people from driving in.
Over the years, that changed as they experienced more crime on the lot. A chain-link fence was installed around the facility, and then a steel fence.
While no one had broken into the main building, the site was “target-rich,” Lars said.
“You can’t fit more than 10 to 12 of these vehicles in the building so there could be 20 vehicles parked outside at night, waiting for parts or to be picked up,” he said.
Thieves would break into the trucks looking for tools, generators, batteries, anything to resell.
“We had constant insurance claims,” Lars said. “It just went on and on.”
As years passed, the fencing went up, but things just go worse. Entire vehicles were stolen.
“It just kept ratcheting up,” Lars said. “It got to the point where we had to have all-night security.”
However, the private security costs were becoming not cost-effective, which made installing an electrified security fence seem a viable solution.
After five months of waiting for the necessary permits, with no explanation for the delay, Lars said, he got a devastating early morning phone call on Jan. 13, 2021.
The Salinas Valley Ford Truck Center was on fire.
“Someone had broken into the building itself,” he said.
Inside the building someone had broken into a motorhome and started a fire, which then spread to the other parked vehicles and the rest of the building.
“Our parts department went up like crazy,” Lars said. Pictures of the fire’s aftermath show charred remains of vehicles and melted, bent steel beams.
The entire facility, including 11 customers vehicles and $1 million in inventory was destroyed.
“Luckily it was 5 or 6 a.m. when it started,” Lars said. No one, except the person who broke in was onsite.
An employee arriving at the facility in the morning reported the fire, according to reporting by KION.
Later that day, CHP stopped a man with soot on his clothing walking along Highway 101, according to KION, and upon investigation, would find burns on the man. The arson suspect was later identified as 48-year-old Martin Gonzalez, who was ultimately arrested on burglary and arson charges in connection to the fire.
It never should have happened
The fire ended up destroying the facility, leading to its ultimate closure. Rebuilding the business was economically unfeasible, Lars said.
Some employees were able to transfer over to the retail center at the Auto Mall, but over 20 people who worked in the service and parts departments — technicians, managers, service writers, had to find other employment.
For Lars, the tragedy should never had happened. He thought he had been doing all that he could as a responsible business owner to keep his establishment and his employees safe and secure.
Spurred to make sense of it all, Lars began to lobby for the passage of a California bill that would allow eligible businesses to install enhanced security measures — specifically, electrified security fences, through a streamlined permitting process.
Lars made multiple trips to the state Capitol to share his story, culminating in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
On Sept. 14, 2024, Assembly Bill No. 2371, authored by Assembly members Juan Carrillo and Heath Flora, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The bill amends existing law to prohibit municipalities from requiring any permits, outside of an alarm system permit, for the installation of electrified security fences that are installed in compliance with the law.
Prior to the enactment of the law, 400 commercial properties were awaiting permitting approval, according to Assemblymember Carrillo’s testimony in the state Senate, with the average wait-time being over a year.
More than 1,000 properties, including at Cal Fire and city public works departments, electrified security fencing had been utilized safely and effectively, he added.
A month after its enaction as an urgency measure, allowing it to take effect right away, hundreds of businesses in the state were able to install the security technology, according to Amarok, a security fencing company.
Recognition for efforts
On Jan. 30, four years after the arson fire, Lars, in recognition of his work on helping to pass the California law and ongoing contributions to the Salinas community, was presented with a resolution from the state Legislature and signed by state Sens. John Laird, Anna Caballero and Speaker of the Assembly, Robert Rivas.
The resolution reads: “Faced with a devastating loss when Salinas Valley Ford Truck Center was the target of an arson fire …. Lars channeled his efforts into advocating for legislative reforms to better protect the region’s business owners and community at large through simplified permitting processes for security enhancements, displaying a commitment to supporting the people of Salinas that carries forward his family’s values of integrity, resilience and service.”
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