FORT MYERS (Florida) NEWS-PRESS

March 6, 2007

Worst fear comes true
Mother afraid arsonist would kill her family

By Pedro Morales

IMMOKALEE — Pascuela Vasquez, who was killed with her three children when fire ravaged a mobile home Sunday morning, told a friend she was afraid an arsonist would kill the family.

Collier County sheriff's deputies and fire inspectors say arson is suspected in the fire at Lot 18 in Cleves Trailer Park, 713 2nd Ave.

Detective Scott Bialy from the State Fire Marshal's office is working with the Collier County Sheriff's Office to find the cause and culprits of the fire.

"It's under current investigation, so I can't comment," Bialy said. "We're still putting so much together."

Vasquez's husband Marvin Carrillo watched her fall as she tried to open the door where her three children slept just before flames engulfed the home, said a friend, Maria Peña.

"He didn't see her stand up again," Peña said. "He couldn't get the kids out. The smoke was too thick. He was burned."

Witnesses said the trailer was destroyed within five minutes. Vasquez and her three children — Wilder, Luciana and Rodrigo — were killed. Six others, including Marvin, were injured.

Peña said Pascuela Vasquez was pregnant.

Monday, the mobile home park appeared clean and well taken care of. The homes sat in neat rows. It's the kind of place where kids play together on the streets.

Collier County officials spent the day investigating whether code-enforcement violations that could have contributed to the deaths.

The home was in compliance with Collier code the last two times it was inspected, said Deb Millsap, spokeswoman for the Collier County Health Department.

The trailer, designated as migrant housing, was allowed to have six residents. Millsap said inspectors didn't see anything that indicated more than six people lived there during the last visit, which took place on Feb. 16.

Officials said 10 people were staying at the trailer the night of the fire. Property manager Angel Ramos said he knows of only seven who lived there permanently.

Feared for safety

Vazquez said she feared something might happen because someone had tried twice to burn the family's trailer.

The Collier County Sheriff's Office confirmed that on Feb. 21 officials were called to the trailer for an apparent arson attempt.

Ramos said he called sheriff's officials to notify them because that had been the second time someone tried to burn the trailer. The first time, in early February, no one called.

"She was scared," said Maria Guardiola, a friend who worshiped with Vasquez at Bethel Assembly of God Church. "She asked us to pray for her. She asked us to pray for her children."

Neither Peña, who spent time with Carrillo at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, nor Guardiola could suggest why the family might be the target of arsonists.

In a city where migrant workers can hardly afford to pay rent and send money home, it is common for families to rent out space to other workers, said Lucas Benitez, director of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

"It's typical to have at least 11 people to a trailer," Benitez said. "Sometimes you don't know who they are. They just show up, stay and then leave. You don't know them."

The tragedy has left family and friends heartbroken.

"Right now, there's nothing to think about except why ... why them?" said Andrea Mateo, 15, one of more than 100 people who cried together Monday at a vigil for the family.

Carrillo and Vasquez met about seven years ago. Both worked in the fields of Immokalee.

Carrillo took the Guatemalan woman's two children, Wilder and Luciana, who are from a previous marriage, as his own.

The couple had Rodrigo, a kindergartner at Highlands Elementary, and had a fourth child on the way. Wilder was a freshman at Immokalee High School and Luciana was an eighth-grader at Immokalee Middle School.

Immokalee Middle School delayed FCAT testing on Monday because of the tragedy, school officials said.