Arson in Columbia City?

The neighborhood is chattering with the latest news - is there an arsonist in Columbia City?

The latest SPD South Precinct Email Community Newsletter from August 24 reads:

Recent Arson Activity

Once again, there has been recent arson activity we want to bring to your attention. In the past week there have been several probable Arsons.

On Monday, 8/20/07 at about 1:30am, unknown suspect(s) set fire to the back porch of an occupied residence on the 4500 block of South Alaska St. An attempt was made to set fire to the front porch as well. The suspect(s) also entered the back yard of the neighboring house to the south and dropped burning matches onto the wooden deck attached to the rear of the house. Two previous residential arson incidents in this neighborhood are still under investigation by the Arson/Bomb Squad and have similarities to this incident.

4/2/07, approximately 11pm: 4600 Block of 43rd Ave. South. Single-family residence. $500,000 loss; unknown person(s) used hand held flame to ignite combustibles on exterior of structure.

4/8/07, approximately 1:45am: 5900 Block of 51st Ave. South. Single-family residence. $400,000 loss; unknown person(s) applied an ignitable liquid to exterior of home and lighted the same with an open flame.

At this time there is no solid evidence linking these incidents. However, there are similarities:

• Houses were situated on corner lots with easy access to the back yards
• The fires were started using available materials present
• The fires were started at the rear of each structure at ground level underneath enclosed but accessible areas
• The houses were occupied at the time.

The victims in each reported no prior threats, and know of no reason they might have been targeted. There have been no witnesses located. There is no suspect information at this time.

Also early Monday, 8/20/07, at approximately 12:30pm, there was a fire at an apartment complex on the 3900 Block of S. Hudson ST. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, but initial indications are that the origin of the fire was suspicious in nature.

8/21/07 at approximately 3am, Fire fighters and police responded to a possible arson on the 1900 Block of 23rd Ave S. The building was a vacant warehouse. There are no indications of anyone being injured as a result of the fire.

The Seattle Police Department Arson/Bomb Squad is doing the follow-up investigation of all the above incidents. If you have any information that may prove useful to the investigations, please contact 206.684.8980.

The admiral and I think this is probably a bunch of kids with nothing better to do - it'll be interesting to see if these incidents slow down/stop once school starts again (although not necessarily - do kids who like starting fires also attend school regularly?)

At any rate, keep your eyes peeled, and as the SPD says, if you keep any materials outside that could start fires, consider moving them inside.