Photo: Home Depot on Kerner Boulevard
SAN RAFAEL — A homeless man is in custody on suspicion of starting an arson fire. The man was arrested an hour after a fire broke out at a homeless encampment last Saturday night.
Roughly 400 acres of pampas grass burned during a fire that started at approximately 9 p.m. on November 17th. The fire blackened one of the largest remaining undeveloped tracts of land in the city.
The burned area is adjacent to Interstate 580, near the western landing of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. It includes a homeless encampment, where Kerner Boulevard dead ends, behind a Home Depot store.
Authorities believe the fire resulted from an argument among homeless persons. As the argument heated up, the suspect allegedly threw hot barbecue coals into the dry grasslands.
As the encampment burned, authorities interviewed several witnesses who had been living there in makeshift tents. The homeless lost their tents and belongings scattered outside.
Witnesses identified a suspect believed responsible for setting the fire, who left the area before first responders arrived. However, police located and arrested him nearby about an hour later.
The suspect identified as 54-year-old Manu L. Fesili was apprehended outside a Circle K gas station, located at 981 Francisco Boulevard East.
Fesili remains in custody at Marin County Jail in lieu of $50,000 bond. His charges are arson, and public drunkenness.
