Hundreds of hotel guests were evacuated after a 16-year-old girl allegedly set fire to a Florida hotel room after a fight with her mother.
Isabella Faith Adeline Garcia was arrested after allegedly starting a fire at the Hilton hotel in Ocala, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, according to a statement from Ocala Fire Rescue.
At approximately 3:20 a.m., Ocala Fire Rescue responded to reports of a structure fire at the Hilton hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, firefighters encountered moderate smoke which worsened as they made their way down the first-floor hallway. Fire crews used a thermal-imaging camera to locate the source of the fire at which point they used a water can in conjunction with the hotel’s sprinkler system to smother the flames in seven minutes, the statement read.
Surveillance footage from the hotel reportedly shows Garcia walking through the halls of the hotel between 2:30 a.m and 3:15 a.m. Minutes later, video reportedly shows Garcia using a long lighter to ignite a pillow located on a couch in the hallway before walking out of the hotel to the parking lot where she called authorities, Fox 35 News reported.
“I got into a fight with my mom,” Garcia told dispatchers, according to the affidavit cited by the outlet. “I got into a fight with my mom and then she got another room. She wasn’t talking to me and then she wouldn’t answer any of my calls or text messages. I don’t know. It was like this couch in the lobby … I don’t know what to do. I’m scared. I don’t know what to do.” (RELATED: Detroit Man Sets Gas Station Ablaze, Trapping Worker After Altercation)
Though no one was injured in the blaze, approximately 320 guests had to be evacuated. After the fire was extinguished, guests were able to safely return to their rooms, according to a statement from the Ocala Police Department.
Garcia, who was visiting from Peoria, Illinois, was subsequently arrested on arson charges and transported to the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center, Fox 35 News reported.