Operations & Training

CA Homeowner Detained in Suspected Arson Fire

Nov. 7, 2021

The owner of a Santee home was arrested on suspicion of arson after firefighters doused a fire that gutted his residence early Saturday.

By Gary Warth

Source The San Diego Union-Tribune

Smoke rises from a Santee, CA, home that burned in a suspected arson fire on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021.

A Santee house was destroyed in a Saturday morning fire that is being investigated by an arson team.

Firefighters responded to a call about 2:20 a.m. and arrived to find a one-story house on Rancho Fanita Drive just west of Organdy Lane fully engulfed in flames, said Santee Fire Department Chief John Garlow.

Photos provided by the fire department show the structure appeared to be gutted, but was still standing as firefighters remained on the scene into the morning.

No injuries were reported.

Sheriff's Lt. Michael Arens said the homeowner had been detained, but he had no additional information Saturday afternoon.

The sheriff's Bomb/Arson unit was called to the scene, and Arens said the investigation was ongoing.