[title_words_as_hashtags
The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office arrested two people while firefighters battled a residential fire in Santa Margarita on Friday morning.
The Santa Margarita Fire Department responded to the blaze on Encina Avenue at about 7:15 a.m. Friday, according to Santa Margarita Fire Chief Robert Murach.
Firefighters contained the fire in the detached garage and laundry room, preventing it from spreading to the house, Murach said.
The fire caused significant damage to the garage and laundry room, he said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to Murach.
Meanwhile, when SLO County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene, they received a tip that “a wanted parolee at large out of Tulare County” might be living at the home that caught fire, SLO County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Tony Cipolla told The Tribune.
Deputies arrested Jose Kurtz, 35, at the scene of the fire at about 8:30 a.m., Cipolla.
Kurtz was arrested on suspicion of six charges, including grand theft, possession of a firearm as a felon and violating parole, according to the SLO County Jail log. No bail was listed.
Deputies also arrested Kurtz’s girlfriend, 43-year-old Junie Rivas, on suspicion of numerous charges including possessing a firearm as a felon, resisting a police officer and possession of a controlled substance, according to the the SLO County Jail booking log.
She was being held at the jail with a bail of $100,000, according to the SLO County Jail Log.
“The arrests were not related to the fire,” Cipolla wrote in an email.
