Man’s Body Found at Brush Fire Site

San Diego firefighters, responding to a brush fire Monday night, found the badly burned body of a transient in a grassy area near Famosa Slough, a Fire Department spokesman said.

The coroner’s office identified the man as 31-year-old Joseph Richard Histen. He is thought to be a transient who had been seen in the Loma Portal area near the slough for the past four months, said Fire Department spokesman Larry Stewart.

Firefighters were dispatched to a grass fire in the 2000 block of Adrian Street at 9:36 p.m. and found the body about 200 feet from the road in an area of dense brush, Stewart said.

Histen had apparently set up camp in the brush and had started a fire for cooking or heating purposes. The fire apparently spread to the grass and brush, engulfing Histen as he slept on a cot.