‘Suspicious’ early morning fire destroys 2 SLO dental offices

A suspicious fire destroyed two dental offices in San Luis Obispo early Saturday morning and is currently under investigation by the SLO Police Department.

The SLO Fire Department responded to a call at 1:35 a.m. about a fire outside Fremont Plaza at 1250 Peach St., according to a post made by the Department’s X — formerly Twitter — account.

The complex is a collection of medical and dental offices.

The department said the fire engulfed two dental offices in the Fremont Plaza, almost spreading to a third building before firefighters extinguished the blaze.

Both offices were deemed “total losses,” but there were no reported injuries, according to the department.

Firefighters also responded to a trash can fire nearby at the Mosque of Nazarene at 1245 Peach St. at 1:31 a.m. and a fire behind 1270 Peach St. at 1:20 a.m. prior to responding to the fire at 1250 Peach St., according to the emergency services app PulsePoint.

The department has deemed the cause of the fires “suspicious.”

“It is possible it was arson, but it is under investigation,” SLO Fire Department Public Information Officer James Blattler said.

The Police and Fire Departments urged anyone with information relevant to the investigation to contact police at 805-781-7312.

This story was originally published January 27, 2024 at 5:52 PM.