After a devastating fire swept through a College Area home, the tenants who have been displaced say they believe their landlord started the fire.
San Diego Fire-Rescue investigators say the fire inside a home on Tipton Street was arson. The home is just off the campus of San Diego State University, north of Montezuma and west of El Cajon Boulevard.
The fire started inside the home described by officials as a “mini dorm” just after 6 p.m. Thursday. A mini dorm is a home with multiple rooms and added living spaces used for individual renters. San Diego has ordinances in place to enforce zoning laws near area colleges like SDSDU.
Loyda Navarro told NBC 7 she’s been living at the home for several months. She said her landlord was going to evict them from the house but they got an attorney to fight the eviction.
“He's been under some city code violations and was not supposed to be renting to us tenants,” Navarro said.
According to Navarro the violations include wiring, renting trailers on the property, salvation issues, plumbing issues, no smoke alarms and holes in the walls.
"The property was not adequate for us to all be living in," Navarro explained. "There's a lot of people who live here through impact programs who are disabled mentally...Some of them are senior citizens."
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The single-family home sustained extensive damage in the fire. Approximately 11 renters live in the building. No one was injured.
Investigators say there was evidence the fire started in multiple places inside the house. The scene has been turned over to the police.
