‘Ritualistic’ apartment fire in Merced set by 61-year-old resident

A fire over the weekend inside a Merced apartment caused about $45,000 in damage and was caused by a resident, investigators said Tuesday, but there was “no malicious intent.”

City fire crews responded just after 11:30 a.m. Sunday to an apartment complex in the first block of West 18th Street. Flames broke out in the bathroom of a second-story apartment and spread to other parts of the unit, Battalion Chief Billy Alcorn said.

Firefighters said it was still too early in the investigation to say exactly how and why the fire started, but that it did not appear to be criminal.

A 61-year-old man who lived in the apartment has been identified as the person responsible for starting the fire. He has not been arrested or accused of any crime, authorities confirmed.

“I can say that it appears to have been a ritualistic fire with some religious overtones, and there was no malicious intent,” Fire Capt. Cory Haas.

Firefighters declined to elaborate on the cause.

No one was injured in the fire, according to authorities. Seventeen firefighters responded to the scene and extinguished the flames after about 20 minutes, Alcorn said.

Firefighters contained the blaze to the single apartment, but neighbors in four apartments have been displaced and won’t be able to return until electrical repairs are made to the building. The American Red Cross is involved in helping at least some of the displaced residents, firefighters said.

The exact number of people displaced by the fire remained unclear Tuesday.

Firefighters said the incident was a good reminder about the importance of residential smoke alarms.

“They are an early detection device that will allow us adequate time to evacuate our residents in the case of a fire,” Alcorn said in a statement. “Without the presence of working smoke alarms in this apartment complex, the situation could have potentially been much worse.”

This story was originally published December 23, 2014 at 7:22 PM with the headline "‘Ritualistic’ apartment fire in Merced set by 61-year-old resident."