Fatal fire possibly arson

Visalia Times-Delta - www.visaliatimesdelta.com -: "

EXETER — CAL FIRE officials said Friday the cause of a fire that turned fatal Thursday has not been determined.

A 1-year-old boy died in the residential fire, but the mother believes that the death of her son might have been prevented.

An autopsy showed that Jonathan Gomez, 1, died of smoke inhalation, Exeter police said.

Esbeyde Calvillo, 20, and her two sons Alonzo Gomez Jr., 2, and Jonathan have called 301 S. Orange Ave. in Exeter home for the past four months.

But with the boys’ father in jail and little money for rent and utilities, Calvillo said she was getting ready to move back to Visalia and live with her mother. The home hasn’t had gas, electricity or water on for at least a week.

Calvillo said that’s why she isn’t sure how a fire started in her home Thursday, but she believes it was arson.

Exeter Police Chief Clifton Bush said an autopsy showed Jonathan died of smoke inhalation. Bush said the work of two Exeter police officers and CAL FIRE firefighters to rescue Jonathan was heroic.

But Calvillo disagrees — at least when it comes to the claim that the officers tried to save her child.

Bush said before a firefighter pulled Jonathan's body from the burning house, two Exeter police officers tried to rescue the boy.

"The smoke and the flames were so intense [the officers] couldn't get the baby," Bush said. "My men made a heroic attempt to rescue that baby."

Exeter police and fire personnel responded about 9 a.m. Thursday to a report of a structure fire. Officers found the home engulfed in flames, and were told that a 1-year-old was still inside, according to Exeter police.

Calvillo said she rescued Alonzo Jr. before the police arrived, but a separate attempt to save Jonathan failed when officers pulled her away.

Bush said his officers, one at a time, tried to hoist half of their bodies onto the window sill and searched for the baby with their hands after Calvillo warned them that a baby was inside the burning home — just inside, by the window.

"One of them told me it was pitch black in there," Bush said.

Bush said the officers could stand the heat and smoke no more and let a CAL FIRE firefighter continue to search for Jonathan. The firefighter entered the room and eventually found the body.

The mother's story differs.

Calvillo said she and her two sons were sleeping when she awoke to find that her room was on fire. Calvillo said she exited through the bedroom window — without either of her children — and stopped a vehicle on Chestnut Street.

"I ran out and yelled, 'Help my house is burning! My children are in there!' " Calvillo said.

She said she returned to the bedroom window and hoisted herself onto the sill to rescue her two children. She said she grabbed Alonzo Jr. but when she went back to try to rescue Jonathan the police officers wouldn't let her make an attempt.

"I was trying to let them know that my baby was still in there," Calvillo said. "I went back to grab [Jonathan] and had him. I had my baby, but he slipped because the [officers] pulled me out."

Calvillo said she told officers that Jonathan was still inside the room.

"The [officers] still didn't go in there," Calvillo said. "They thought I was talking about [Alonzo Jr.]."

Calvillo said she believes that somebody who knows the children's father used gasoline to light the house on fire.

Bush said investigators have not determined if it was arson.

"She made the statements that somebody did this," Bush said. "But we still don't have any evidence that this is a crime until the arson investigator comes back with more information.""