SAN FRANCISCO --
One of two firefighters who was seriously injured while battling a house fire on Felton Street last Thursday was released from the hospital on Monday.
40 year old Lt. James App is recovering from burns while another firefighter, Christopher Posey, remains in the hospital in critical but stable condition.
Fire officials tell KTVU it appears the fire was set deliberately in the back of the house. Deputy Fire Chief Pat Gardner says teams are sifting through the evidence.
"We have our whole arson task force working on it with help from the ATF," he said. "They're moving forward. They've colllected all the evidence ...everything is under review."
KTVU has learned that investigators with the San Francisco Police Department have interviewed the property owner's ex-husband Jimmy Jen.
Jen is a civil engineer who's well-known among San Francisco's construction community for his work in expediting permits for building projects.
A former neighbor of Jen's told KTVU that a police investigator has spoken with her, in part because of her suspicion that Jen may have been involved in a fire nine years ago that destroyed her home in the Visitation Valley neighborhood.
"They determined it was arson," said Mary Gin Starkweather, Jen's former neighbor, "But they were not able to determine who set it."
Starkweather told KTVU her home was set on fire after she complained to city officials that Jen was violating building codes by trying to convert the one bedroom home next door to a three unit building. She said she really hopes investigations get to the bottom of the Felton Street fire.
"That somebody had to be hurt is unconscionable," Starkweather added.
Jimmy Jen was never charged with the arson of Starkweather's home. However, a published report links Jen to fires at three properties he either owned or was involved with in business dealings.
KTVU reached him by telephone tonight. He said that two police investigators interviewed him for a half hour earlier this evening. He said officers asked him "pretty routine stuff." Jen said they asked, "Do I own the building, what role I had in the building, stuff like that."
And he said he did not have any involvement in the property on Felton and denied any involvement with any arson.
"As far as the injured firefighters, I deeply feel sorry, I wish them recover soon," Jen said.
San Francisco fire officials say they hope to wrap up their investigation into the suspicious fire on Felton Street by the end of this week.
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