Mobile home Hestroyeh in fire
Arson suspected; MCSO arrests homeowner's son
A mobile home was destroyed north of Ukiah Saturday night in what authorities believe was an act of arson, the Ukiah Valley Fire Authority reported.
UVFA Battalion Chief Eric Singleton said crews were dispatched around 9:30 p.m. March 13 to a structure fire in the 4800 block of North State Street and found a mobile home “fully-involved” in flames that were threatening two neighboring homes.
Singleton said crews were able to suppress the flames before they caused extensive damage to the nearby trailers, although one suffered heat damage to the carport, but the home where the fire started was destroyed.
The owner of the home was not in the residence at the time of the fire, and Singleton said searches of the home revealed that no one else was inside. No evidence of pets was found, either.
Singleton said the fire has been determined to be intentional, and the fire was originally reported by eyewitnesses who described seeing someone who appeared to be trying to start a fire at the home. Singleton said deputies from the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office were already on-scene when fire crews arrived, and his understanding was that a suspect had been arrested.
According to the MCSO, a deputy responded to the mobile home around 9:10 the night of the fire when neighbors reported a man acting suspiciously, then later reported seeing the man lighting a fire inside the residence.
The suspect was detained and identified as Pedro Reynaga, 38, who reportedly lived at the mobile home with his mother. Fearing she was inside the burning residence, the deputy attempted to enter it but was unable to due to the amount of smoke and flames. The suspect’s mother later returned, unharmed.
Reynaga was arrested on suspicion of felony arson and booked into Mendocino County Jail under $100,000 bail.
The Redwood Valley-calpella Fire Department also responded to the incident, as well as Medstar Ambulance.