Blaze erupts at political duo’s home
San Diego County supervisor, former assemblywoman safe after ‘suspicious’ fire.
SAN DIEGO — Authorities are investigating a “suspicious” fire that scorched the San Diego home of former Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher early Wednesday.
The couple and their children got out safely after waking up to smoke alarms about 4 a.m. and finding the front door of their home “engulfed in flames,” Fletcher said in a statement.
He said they got out of the house through another door. “Our family is safe and for us, that is all that matters,” he said in a statement that Gonzalez also shared on Twitter.
Fletcher said police and fire crews arrived quickly, and he is grateful for their efforts.
“It is going to be fine — we are good, we are healthy, everyone is safe and the rest of it doesn’t really matter,” Fletcher told Fox 5 San Diego.
“We’re grateful for that and grateful the firefighters were here, like immediately,” he said.
San Diego Police Sgt. Rick Pechin said investigators believe the fire was suspicious, but he would not say how or where the blaze started. He said the Metro Arson Strike Team — composed of police and fire investigators — is handling the investigation.
Hours after the incident in the City Heights neighborhood, police spokesman Lt. Adam Sharki released a statement that contained few additional details but confirmed that the fire was “being treated as suspicious in nature.”
The fire, which was contained to the front of the home, caused about $30,000 in damage to the house and an additional $6,000 in damage to a parked vehicle, San Diego Fire-Rescue spokesperson Mónica Muñoz said.
The blaze also burned a U.S. flag outside the home, according to a tweet from Fletcher, a former Marine who served two combat tours. Before they cleared out, fire crews gave the family a new flag, Fletcher said. He tweeted a photo of it flying a few feet from the home’s blackened facade.
Gonzalez retweeted the image, with a thank you to the firefighters.
Fletcher on Tuesday was elected by fellow supervisors to a second term as chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors, and he headed a board meeting hours after the fire Wednesday.
He has risen to increasing political prominence over the last several years as a primary proponent of the county’s COVID-19 policies — a stance for which he has received consistent criticism. In many ways, he’s been the face of the region’s pandemic response alongside Wilma Wooten, the county’s health officer.