Updated

Updated · KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco · Aug 22

Richmond House Fire Death Toll Reaches 4 as 32-Year-Old Suspect Faces Murder Charges

Updated

Updated · KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco · Aug 22

Richmond House Fire Death Toll Reaches 4 as 32-Year-Old Suspect Faces Murder Charges

Q: How did two seemingly unrelated, devastating fires manage to ignite on the exact same Richmond block just moments apart?

They appear to have been two separate arsons that happened by coincidence on the same Richmond block within roughly 30 to 45 minutes of each other. Authorities say the first fire, reported around 8:08 to 8:16 p.m. on the 200 block of 15th Street, involved a different home that was unoccupied at the time. That fire remains under investigation, and police said a woman was arrested in connection with it. Investigators have not publicly identified a motive in that case. While firefighters were still mopping up the first blaze, residents or crews noticed smoke coming from a second house two doors away at about 8:58 p.m. That second fire quickly grew into a three-alarm blaze. Police say detectives identified 32-year-old Sergio Ivan Rivera-Vega, who lived there, as the person who intentionally set that fire. He was arrested near the scene and now faces murder and arson charges after the deaths of his father, sister, nephew and niece. Richmond police and fire officials have repeatedly said they have no evidence linking Rivera-Vega to the earlier fire and “firmly believe” the two incidents were isolated. Fire officials also said the first blaze did not cause the second. So the exact reason the two fires erupted on the same block so close together is not a shared plot established by investigators, but an extraordinary overlap of two separate suspected arson cases—one still under investigation, and one that turned into a fatal family homicide case.

3 articles · Updated · KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco · Aug 22

A 33-year-old woman died of her injuries Saturday, becoming the fourth victim of the Aug. 18 Richmond house fire.
Police say 32-year-old Sergio Ivan Rivera-Vega, the woman's brother, intentionally set the blaze and was arrested shortly afterward on murder counts with special enhancements.
The other victims were Rivera-Vega's father, 47-year-old Jose Rivera, and Jose's grandchildren, 5-year-old Andrew and 2-year-old Joline — the suspect's niece and nephew.
Family members said Rivera-Vega had mental health issues and had made verbal threats against relatives last month, though authorities have not identified a motive.