BAXTER COUNTY, Ark. — Following an investigation, the Baxter County Sheriff's Office has now arrested a woman on charges of arson and attempted murder after a house fire that happened in the Gamaliel area in northern Arkansas in early 2023.
According to reports, on January 30, 2023, multiple fire departments were dispatched to a residential structure fire on Hwy 101 N. There were three adults and a juvenile inside the home, including one person who was disabled.
The people inside the home were able to escape from the home. Officials were able to determine that the fire began either in the carport or porch area and the home and both vehicles were deemed to be total losses. A third vehicle was also damaged.
The fire was determined by officials to be "suspicious" and the total loss was valued at about $110,000.
Almost a year later, on January 25, 2024, a man reported to the sheriff's office that he was approached by 38-year-old Tiffanie Leola Vazquez (formerly known as Tiffanie Cortez) whom he knew, while at a business in Gamaliel.
During their conversation, she informed the man that she had previously paid someone $500 to burn down a house because someone who lived there was allegedly stealing from her and the people she lived with. She also said that the people never paid her back.
The man questioned Vazquez on why she was confessing that to him and she responded that "the case and investigation were closed." Later on, the man and a second person gave Vazquez a ride to a different location during which they were able to get a video recording of Vazquez once again admitting to what she had done. She also gave additional details in the video and by text messages.
That information was later presented to the prosecuting attorney who filed charges against Vazquez and they issued a warrant for her arrest on March 1, 2024. She was taken into custody without incident on March 5, 2024, after she was found inside a home on Fout Road.
She has been booked into the Baxter County Detention Center on charges of arson, four counts of criminal attempt to commit murder in the first degree, and habitual offender.
Vazquez is being held on a $250,000 bond and is set to go before the circuit court on April 1, 2024.
