Transient starts fire in Atascadero printery building
February 1, 2016
Atascadero police arrested a 38-year-old transient Sunday for a starting a fire in the former printery building. The man told police he was escaping the rain and using the fire to warm himself. [Tribune]
At 2:12 p.m., public safety personnel received a report of smoke coming out of one of the bottom floor windows at the printery building. The building is located at 6351 Olmeda Avenue.
Police officers and firefighters responded to the scene and found Phillip Martinez lying next to a small fire. Martinez initially did not respond to authorities. When they began to pull Martinez out of the building, he woke up and exited the structure.
The fire did not cause any damage to the building. The printery building had been boarded up since the 2003 San Simeon Earthquake.
Police arrested Martinez on a misdemeanor charge of causing a dangerous fire on a property. Officers booked him in San Luis Obispo County Jail with his bail set at $2,000.
Martinez is no longer in custody, according to the county sheriff’s office website.
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