The Christmas Day fire that finally destroyed the vacant InCahoots dance club in Mission Valley was started by an unhoused man who was trying to smoke drugs in a pipe, a prosecutor told a judge on Jan. 3, 2025.

The Christmas fire was the third such blaze in the vacant building after the popular country western dance club closed on Jan. 1, 2019. Deputy District Attorney Spencer Sharpe said it was “a massive fire” that left the 11,821-square-foot building “down to (wooden) studs.”

Joel Henry Humphrey, 47, pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of recklessly causing a fire. If convicted, he faces three years in prison.

Sharpe told San Diego Superior Court Judge Evan Kirvin that Humphrey told an investigator he started a fire inside the building to help him ignite “controlled substances” to smoke in a pipe.

“He is a grave danger to public safety,” said Sharpe, noting Humphrey has 15 misdemeanor convictions.

“He will ignore court orders,” said Sharpe, referring to his criminal record.

The prosecutor asked for the $50,000 bail to remain the same, and the judge asked his public defender if Humphrey could afford any bail. The attorney said no.

Humphrey’s attorney said the building was “already a total loss” because of the October 2024 fire at InCahoots. The building exterior was already charred from a 2020 fire. The former dance hall on Mission Center Road has not been occupied since it closed, but the owner has been trying to sell it. It is surrounded by other offices, but the fires did not spread to other buildings. Humphrey is not suspected of starting the other fires.

Humphrey was seen on a video screen from jail wearing jail clothes and did not say anything during the arraignment other than plead not guilty.

Kirvin set bail at $50,000 and a preliminary hearing for Jan. 16. Humphrey remains in the central jail.

(Foto cortesía SanDiegoVille)