2 arrested in San Tan Valley house fire

Two men are in the Pinal County Jail after a house in San Tan Valley was destroyed when a fire set in a nearby vacant lot went out of control.

On Tuesday, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call about a home on fire near North Pava Lane and East Rolling Ridge Road.

“We responded because there were two men that were out burning trash in a desert lot,” Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said in a video posted to PCSO’s Facebook page. “Now that fire got out of control. It burnt one of the neighbor’s houses down.”

Lamb said the home was a total loss but there were no injuries.

Neighbors reported seeing two men burning weeds and trash in the vacant lot. Lamb alleged that the men “didn’t even attempt to put out the fire.”

Neighbors guided PCSO deputies to a home where they arrested Gerardo Contreras Chavez, 25, and Sergio Contreras, 56.

The two were booked into the Pinal County jail on multiple charges including arson of a structure.

Rural Metro Fire, which services unincorporated areas of San Tan Valley, doused the fire and prevented it from spreading farther.

“This is just a reminder that we are in fire season,” Lamb said. “We had a lot of rain, so there’s a lot of fuel on the ground and currently there’s a burn ban in the unincorporated areas of Pinal County.”