Man arrested on suspicion of recklessly setting fire at home that killed woman

SAN DIEGO

A 33-year-old man was arrested last week on suspicion of recklessly setting a fire that burned down a City Heights home and killed a woman, authorities said this week.

The woman was burned so badly in the Feb. 21 fire that authorities have not been able to identify her.

“She remains unidentified due to the extent of her thermal inquires,” said Donnie Ryan, spokesman for the county Medical Examiner’s Office.

He said DNA from the woman’s body was sent to a state Department of Justice lab, which will compare the DNA with in-house samples in an effort to identify the remains.

The body was found in the debris after firefighters put out the fire that tore through a back house on a property on Fairmount Avenue near Polk Avenue. Firefighters had been told a homeless woman and possibly another person were trapped in the house, but only a woman’s body was discovered.

San Diego police Sgt. Rick Pechin, who oversees investigators on the Metro Arson Strike Team, said the man who was arrested had been at the house with the woman.

The man was seen leaving the area around the time of the fire, Pechin said previously.

“We believe he did in fact start a fire, but there is no indication at this point that fire was started for the purpose of intentionally burning the structure or to try and harm anyone within it,” Pechin said this week in an email.

According to online jail records, the man was booked into jail just before midnight the day of the fire.

Pechin previously said the back house was boarded up and known to be occupied by squatters.

Battalion Chief Rob Hartman said the back house was badly damaged in a fire within the past year.

“Just about everybody in the area says they’ve had problems with that back house,” Pechin said the day of the fire.