Woman charged in July blaze

PORTALES — A woman charged with arson for the July 27 structure fire in Portales is suspected of starting several other fires in the area, according to court records.

An arrest warrant for Patricia Villanueva, 38, of Portales, was issued for charges of second-degree felony arson and criminal damage to property in connection with the fire on the 300 block of North Avenue I in Portales.

The Roosevelt County Detention Center on Saturday listed a Patricia Villanueva in the facility last month, but an administrator told The News that afternoon that there was nobody at the facility since then by the name of Villanueva (or Meeks, an alias of Villanueva noted in court records).

The first report of the July 27 fire came a few minutes after 10 p.m. and more than 50 firefighters from Portales, Clovis, Texico, Elida, Milnesand, Floyd, Arch, Dora and Causey departments responded to control the blaze within three hours. Smoke continued to stream from the site and officials remained on scene to monitor through Monday.

Nobody was injured, but property owner Brady Brunson valued the structure itself in excess of $20,000 and estimated that was closer to $500,000 with the property on site.

Portales Fire Department Battalion Chief Steven Cain told The News on Monday that “the building’s a complete loss.”

Brunson, as well as an unidentified “concerned citizen,” told state Fire Marshal Investigator Jimmy Vigil that Villanueva, “had made statements in regard to starting this fire,” according to court records.

Brunson told Vigil that Villanueva “had been residing without permission on his property living in a trailer just outside the structure,” and that “this had been an ongoing issue” the past four months. Records show Brunson told Villanueva July 27 that she had a week to vacate the property and her belongings, but that night he was “woken up by his dog barking when he discovered his structure was on fire.”

Court officers told Vigil that Villanueva had absconded from her terms of probation/parole two weeks before the incident.

Portales Fire Marshal Scott Candelaria told Vigil that “Villanueva has been suspected of causing several other fires in the tri-county area,” information which was “echoed” by Cain, according to Vigil’s arrest warrant affidavit filed July 28. Records did not specify what those fires were.

Officials had not released a cause for the July 27 downtown fire in Clovis that destroyed an old flour mill. Clovis Chief Mike Nolen said Saturday his department is investigating in tandem with the state fire marshal’s office, and is looking into the possibility the Portales and Clovis fires are connected.