'It's my house. I can burn it if I want': Man charged with arson after fire in Dededo

A 48-year-old man was charged with arson as a third-degree felony after admitting to setting fire to his home, a magistrate judge in the Superior Court of Guam said.

Rodney Dizon Cabral was arraigned Friday.

Around 12:43 a.m. Thursday, police arrived at a house fire in Dededo, where Guam Fire Department units had controlled the fire and the house was no longer burning.

A shirtless man sitting in the courtyard of the previously burning house was observed to have singed hair on his back and neck, but no visible burns or exposed wounds.

The man identified himself as Rodney Dizon Cabral and said he lived in the house where the fire occurred.

He told police there was so much trash in his home that he decided to clean it up by burning it, the complaint said.

Cabral then started laughing and talking to himself, saying, “Why did I barbecue?” I was just cleaning. Burn? I don’t burn. I’m having a barbecue. It’s my house. I can burn it if I want,” the documents say.

A Guam Fire Department official told police that the fire appeared to have started in the home’s hallway and that he did not believe the cause was electrical because all appliances in the home continued to work without problems even after the fire had been extinguished. out.

It was noted that the home was surrounded by trees and tall grass, as if it had not been maintained for several months.

An electrical line hung down toward the roof, low enough to catch fire if the flames were not extinguished, and the nearest home was less than 200 feet away and separated by a tree, the branches of which rested on the roof of the house. burning, condition of documents.

There was a pile of burnt debris in the hallway of the home. Cabral was arrested around 12:57 p.m., the complaint said.

Cabral was committed on $1,500 bail, according to documents from the attorney general’s office.