Desert Hot Springs man arrested after Twentynine Palms house fire

A Desert Hot Springs man was facing arson and probation violation charges Monday after a suspicious fire in Twentynine Palms.

The San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department said Steven Mayo, 35, set fire to a home’s garage on the 74000 block of Alta Loma Drive early Friday morning.

Residents were able to get out of the home safely before deputies from the Morongo Basin Station arrived around 3:45 a.m.

Investigators said Mayo was involved in an argument with a woman at the home before the fire broke out.

The Twentynine Palms Fire Department put out the fire, which had engulfed a boat and the detached garage.

Deputies searched for Mayo’s vehicle and later located it and stopped him.

An arson and bomb detective and a Morongo Basin Station detective looked into the fire’s cause leading to arson and a probation violation charge.

Mayo was booked into the Morongo Basin jail in lieu of $250,000 bail.

San Bernardino County probation also placed a no bail probation hold on Mayo.