DALTON GARDENS - The owner of a building that burned Friday night along Government Way said he has been told by fire investigators that the blaze was definitely arson.

Michael Murphy, who owns the building at 5648 N. Government Way along with the business Helmet Outlet USA, said he met with the fire marshall Monday and received the news.

According to a report by the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department, Fire Marshall Jeryl Archer II determined there was a gas can under Murphy's office desk in the building, and Archer believes gasoline was poured on the desk before the fire started.

The fire also destroyed the Kirby vacuum business located in the building with Helmet Outlet.

A spokesman for the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department said there was no new information the department could release Monday.

Along with helmets, Helmet Outlet sells snowmobile equipment, motocross and street motorcycle riding gear.

Investigators arriving after the fire was reported found a window on the east side of the building had been broken out. A metal pipe was found sitting on the ground next to the window. No other windows appeared damaged, the sheriff's department report said.

Investigators also found multiple shoe prints in the snow near the window. The report said the shoes appeared to be "Nike Shox," with four round imprints at the heal of each print. The prints were also found headed west away from the scene.

Between the building and its contents, Murphy said the loss will exceed $750,000.

"I have pretty good insurance, but it's going to go beyond that," said Murphy, 56, of Hayden. "It's a total loss. There's nothing left."

He said somebody was likely targeting him, but he's not sure who that would be.

"They should know they put seven or eight families out of work," Murphy said.

He believes whoever it was, they had to have more familiarity with the business and the building than somebody from the general public.

He said he's likely to be interviewed for the first time today by detectives and fire investigators.

Murphy's fiancee, Heidi Dexter, is a "book keeper" for the business. She told investigators that approximately $10,000 in cash was sitting in her office at the time of the fire.

Dexter also told investigators that the southeast corner of the building, where the window was broken, was the only section that didn't have an alarm.

Dexter said the only people who knew there was no security in that spot were current or former employees.

A possible witness who claimed to have seen someone running westbound away from Helmet Outlet just before the fire was reported declined an interview with investigators.

That witness is married to a woman who is a friend of Dexter's daughter, Elissa Raynor.

Dispatch attempted to contact the man, "but he was not willing to respond for an interview," according to the sheriff's department report.

It said investigators later learned the man was at an unknown bar somewhere in Coeur d'Alene.