Last night there was a fire in the community of Harmonyville on the Western Highway - and it appears to be a case of arson.
Jose Villanueva who had one of the model homes in the community had his two bedroom wooden structure burned to the ground at around 7:30 last night.
He brought the house from the city and had nicely fenced his lot - but last night he was targeted for arson. Community Organizer Nigel Petillo told us why it's a really sad loss:
Voice of: Nigel Petillo - President B. G. Y. E. A.
"Beautiful house, I got to say that it was a beautiful house. It had two-bedroom upstairs house. It was a house that we boasted about. We showed a lot of people to see what an acre looked like fenced, and what we could do out here. It was an example of how beautiful your land could look. We have an idea of who more than likely has set that fire, but I am not really at liberty to discuss that, or even give out a name. But I can assure you that it was no one from the community itself. It's no kind of gripe with any of our members in the community. So a lot of people think that we and the settlers have a "beef". It's nothing like that. I just want the public to know that there is no disharmony in Harmonyville. I don't want our members to feel discouraged in no way at all. We will co-exist; we will not be moved, and we are here. This is our home."
Jules Vasquez
"It is destruction of property, which is always a worrying and significant issue in any community."
Voice of: Nigel Petillo
"It's not like we have a type of tension in the community, where anybody is being targeted. The owner of the house has a strong idea who did this, and why it could have occurred. Over the weekend it should sort out, and we'll have a clear and better understand of what took place. But we have a very good understanding that it may - we have a suspect."
BGYEA will have a fundraiser for him this weekend...
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