Last Friday morning, Michael Evangelista and his fiancee were awakened by knocks on their front door and shrieks of “the house is on fire” from the daughter of a tenant who had been renting a small unit to the rear of their two-bedroom, one-bathroom home in north Santa Maria

The bathroom in the rear one-bedroom unit was ablaze, apparently after clothes left drying on a lamp broke the light bulb.

Michael’s twin brother Mark, who was visiting, ran out the front door and poured buckets of water on the fire several times.

“He saved my house,” Michael Evangelista said.

Mark Evangelista was treated for smoke inhalation at Marian Medical Center and released.

Michael Evangelista said he was mistaken for his brother, who has active warrants for his arrest, and was detained by police.

However, countering previous news reports, Evangelista said he wasn’t booked or charged with anything after the mistaken identity was cleared up. Evangelista added that he doesn’t know the whereabouts of his brother.

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Evangelista and his fiancee, as well as the woman who was renting the rear unit and her children, are now living in motels.

The unit has been yellow tagged by the city Building Department for limited use, and a licensed electrician will have to make repairs to the damaged wiring and lighting before PG&E can turn the power back on, according to Santa Maria Code Compliance Officer Celia Lennon.

The power had been cut to the unit two days earlier after the bill had not been paid.

The addition behind a home in the 500 block of West Mill Street was legally built in 1989, but it was illegally split into two when a doorway to the rear unit was closed off, Lennon said.

A refrigerator was placed in front of the wall and was still there Wednesday. Charges, including the illegal installation of a stove without a permit, were first filed in February she said.

A day after she spoke to Evangelista at the site, Lennon said Wednesday that Evangelista will have to re-open the doorway to the rest of the house and cap off the gas line to the stove, among other issues.

Evangelista said he would rather leave the wall where it is, but he’ll “do exactly what they want” to comply with the city. He inherited the property in 2006.

Because of a broken leg suffered in late June, Evangelista said he has missed previous court dates because the county orthopedic specialist is only available on Thursdays — the day his court appearances have been scheduled.

His next scheduled court date is Oct. 2, and Evangelista said “everything will be cleared up in court.”

Evangelista said he was told not to rent the unit as a studio but he could rent the unit as a room once the doorway is reopened.

It will take at least $4,000 to fix the damage, he said.

David Garcia, Santa Maria’s code compliance division supervisor, said garage conversions, illegal construction and illegal dwellings are “very common.”

“Its been an ongoing problem,” Garcia said.

Most complaints are about overcrowding, heavy traffic and too many parked cars, he said. One of the most egregious cases involved 11 people living in single-car garage with a makeshift propane cooking facility, he said.

Because of staffing, Garcia said code compliance officers have to respond ”reactively” to complaints, and health and safety issues are “taken up immediately.” Each case is handled on an individual basis, Garcia said, with the property owner notified right away to correct the problem and relocate tenants.

September 4, 2008