Man arrested for setting large Santa Maria apartment fire

April 25, 2016

Police have arrested a 19-year-old Southern California man for starting an apartment complex fire in Santa Maria last year that displaced 100 people and caused $1 million in damage. One person also had to be hospitalized after suffering burns due to the fire.

On March 12, 2015, a fire broke out at the Vizcaya Apartments located at 521 W. Sonya Lane. The blaze engulfed several apartments in smoke.

While battling the fire, a firefighter inhaled smoke. A police officer also reported that some debris landed in his eye.

Recently, Santa Maria arson investigators determined the fire was started by Lake Forest resident Daniel Abraham Reyna. Authorities obtained a warrant for Reyna’s arrest on Thursday.

Investigators located Reyna in Southern California, where he was arrested on the outstanding warrant. Arson investigators and Santa Maria detectives then transported Reyna to Santa Barbara County Jail.

Reyna is charged with one felony count of arson by recklessly setting fire or burning a structure or property.

The fire Reyna allegedly set was one of three fires that broke out on the Central Coast on March 12, 2015. That day, a brush fire burned six acres in Santa Maria, and a riverbed blaze burned more than 15 acres in Ventura County. Temperatures on the Central Coast were unseasonably warm that day.

As a result of the Ventura County fire, authorities evacuated 150 people from the nearby campus of the Brooks Institute. After the blaze broke out, Ventura County investigators said they suspected an arsonist started the riverbed fire. It is unclear if an arrest has been made in the case.