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Family Loses home To Fire, Points At Son And Brother As Arsonist
posted (April 11, 2013)
This morning at around 8, residents of Holy Emmanuel Street were alerted to a fire which completely destroyed a family's wooden house.

The residents at lot 45 have lost their home, and all their belongings, but even more disheartening than that, the man who is suspected to have committed arson against them, is their own son and brother.

7News arrived shortly after the Fire Department got the situation under control, and Daniel Ortiz has that report:

Daniel Ortiz Reporting
When we arrived at lot 45 on Holy Emanuel Street, the house was completely destroyed. The Fire fighters were finishing up their work to try to put out the last bits of flame on the wooden structure.

Police already had the suspected culprit detained, and he sat on the ground handcuffed, waiting to be escorted to the station.

The personal belongings of an entire family were reduced to ashes. They stood around confused and unsure: did one of their own burnt down the house?

Anna Lorenzo - Family's Home Destroyed
"I am not really sure; we just got a call and a text that our house was on fire so we quickly came."

Reporter
"Who called?"

Anna Lorenzo
"Our neighbor."

Reporter
"And what did they tell you?"

Anna Lorenzo
"That our house was on fire; that is all they told us so we quickly came. When we arrived here we met the house like that."

Reporter
"And I understand that your younger brother is responsible for it."

Anna Lorenzo
"Yes, my older brother said that from yesterday, he's been trying to light it. And from the time we lived here, he used to light fires around the place."

Reporter
"And what is his reason for doing that?"

Anna Lorenzo
"I guess he's just idle."

And idleness may have been the case, but as a result, they lost important items in the blaze.

Anna Lorenzo
"My brother had all his stuff there and all of my little sisters birth papers and social security cards; everything is burnt. My mom still had not fully moved out. The only thing that was left for me here was my gas tank and my son's bike. Everything else was for my mom and my older brother."

The police will have to find out if that relative did indeed set fire to the house, but if it is him, the family says that they saw early signs of some sort of mental episode

Anna Lorenzo
"Whenever he smokes too much, it bothers his nerves. He just starts tripping out and curses people for no reason. Every time, we used to call the police because of him, because he would just start cursing us, and one time he pulled out machete at my mother. We had expected this you know; from his behavior, we expected it. One night, he lit the step on fire when we were still living here. He lit the step but he put it out. So, we had already figured out that he would have done it, but we didn't expect that it would have been that quick after we moved out, because we just left from here a couple weeks."

Reporter
"But why would you allow him to stay in the house if you think that he might put your family into danger?"

Anna Lorenzo
"My mother, it's her son. She couldn't put him out on the streets just like that. She allowed him to move, because it should have been those two and I that were supposed to stay. But because of what he did with my children and I, my mom moved."

Reporter
"What did he do?"

Anna Lorenzo
"He kept on cursing us, we couldn't live in peace here. He would try and hit my kids. One time I think he even hurt my little sister trying to push her down. So we got tired of it, and I told my mother that one of these days he was going to hurt someone. That is how my mother finally moved."

This brother exercised his right to remain silent, even when we tried to get a comment. But, if he is formally accused – then he will have to answer:

Anna Lorenzo
"Well, that is his business. He is over the age of 18, and he knows what he's doing. So whatever he gets, he deserves, because it isn't like he didn't know what he was doing."

The Fire Department has not released any official details as to the cause of the fire, and at this time, that relative remains in custody while he's being questioned by police.

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