Arrest made in Merced apartment arson fire

A 31-year-old Merced man has been arrested in connection with an arson fire last week at an apartment complex that displaced 11 people, the Merced Fire Department confirmed Sunday.

James D. Salvadori was arrested Saturday in the area of Seventh and V streets. He was booked into the John Latorraca Correctional Center on suspicion of arson – intentionally setting fire to an inhabited structure, which is a felony. He was still in custody as of Sunday morning with bail set at $100,000, according to Merced County jail booking records.

Salvadori is the prime suspect in the fire, which was reported Wednesday morning at Merced Golden Manor apartment complex in the 300 block of T Street, Merced Fire Department Battalion Chief Billy Alcorn said.

A total of 11 elderly and disabled residents lost their homes in the blaze. All the victims were provided shelter by the American Red Cross Central Valley or their own relatives. Damage was estimated at $387,000, authorities have said.

Battalion Chief Don Roe said investigators could not comment on exactly who started the fire or what the motive may have been.

Investigators, however, did confirm that Salvadori’s mother on Jan. 15 moved out of the unit where the fire originated Wednesday. Firefighters stopped short of calling it an eviction, but said “there was an agreement with management that she would vacate the property.”

Fire investigators believe Salvadori had been staying in his vehicle in the area and had gone into the empty apartment multiple times after his family moved out.

“We were told by other tenants and the management company that he (Salvadori) kept coming back and had been asked to leave several times,” Alcorn said.

The apartment management company, the Central Valley Coalition for Affordable Housing, could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Connie Happs lives in the apartment complex and her adult son, Israel, lived in the building that was burned in the fire. Happs said she was relieved to hear news of the arrest.

“Look what happened to all those people,” Happs said. “It scares me to think about what could’ve happened, too.”

Happs said she’d heard some type of explosion around 4 a.m. Wednesday and looked outside to see the building “totally engulfed in flames.”

“It took me a minute to process what was happening,” she said, choking up with emotion as she described the scene. “The flames were big, coming out of the roof; just shooting up out of the roof.”

She said her son has been moved into a temporary apartment not far from her home.

Alcorn praised the work of investigators, who included Merced firefighters, city police and a detective from UC Merced.

This story was originally published January 25, 2015 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Arrest made in Merced apartment arson fire."