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Monday, August 2, 2004

Arsonist loose in the city; fire, police chiefs appeal to public
Seven blazes break out in North Seattle in early-morning hours

By KATHY GEORGE
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Three more confirmed arsons were reported early Monday, the latest in a string of weekend fires that caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage in north Seattle.

Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said small fires were set at two garages and on a piece of furniture on a parking strip. Damage from the garage fires did not appear extensive.

		Craig Salins / Special to the P-I
	A fire rips through a condominium complex being built on Phinney Avenue North, damaging property within a half-block radius. The Sunday-morning blaze is believed to be arson.

Another small fire was extinguished Monday morning at a paper recycling business in north Seattle Fire officials said they did not immediately know the cause of that fire or whether it was linked to the weekend blazes.

There were seven other fires in north Seattle since Saturday night and at least five of those were arson. They burned at a condominium complex, a cafe, two homes, a garage and a car dealership.

The fires came one week after a fire destroyed an apartment building being built in the Wallingford neighborhood, causing $2.75 million in damage.

Roused out of her bed at 12:40 a.m. Sunday, Christine Hill saw flames and felt searing heat -- so intense it scorched the rose bushes and trees in her front yard.

"It was scary," said Hill, who lives a half-block from a Phinney Avenue North condo construction site that was destroyed by a suspicious fire.

Top city officials are scared, too, warning the public that an arsonist is on the loose and may strike again.

The Phinney Avenue North fire was one of seven that broke out in North Seattle in the first six hours of the morning Sunday, injuring no people but causing at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage.

Five fires in the Lake City area, including one that destroyed a Vietnamese restaurant called Cafe Long, were all deliberately set. And the Phinney Avenue North fire, still under investigation, may be related as well, Seattle fire Marshal John Nelson said.

The only fire that took place in an occupied building -- a house at Northeast 56th Street and Roosevelt Way Northeast -- was probably accidental, Seattle fire spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said. She said two people jumped from the second floor of the house to escape injury.

"We are very concerned," Mayor Greg Nickels said at a news conference at which he encouraged the public to be on the lookout. "We are very fortunate that no lives were lost."

Nelson said yesterday's blazes were "very similar" to a fire one week ago that destroyed an apartment building being built in the Wallingford neighborhood, causing $2.75 million in damage. That fire is still being investigated, and Seattle fire Chief Gregory Dean said yesterday, "We have nothing to tie all that together."

Dean and Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said it is too early to speculate publicly about who set yesterday's fires or why.

Dean and Kerlikowske appealed for the public's help in catching the culprit.

They also recommended that Seattle residents clean up any combustible materials that could make an attractive target for an arsonist. Fitzpatrick said all of yesterday's arson fires were started with debris or other combustibles on site.

Although nobody was inside the buildings hit by arson, "these fires can grow larger than anyone anticipates," Dean said. "That is the threat."

The largest fire not only ruined the nearly completed two-story condo complex under construction at Phinney Avenue North and North 61st Street, it also scorched lawns and bushes, broke glass, melted business signs and charred parked cars within a half-block radius.

"We could feel the heat two blocks away. It was just like an atomic bomb," said Nick Sfondouris, who lives at North 59th Street and Evanston Avenue North.

Sfondouris owns several properties close to the burned complex, including three rental houses that were damaged by fire and water and a commercial building where heat cracked the windows.

Yesterday afternoon, he was distraught as he surveyed a house at 310 N. 60th St. Scaffolding and other pieces of the burning condo building had fallen on the garage, destroying it, and he worried that the roof of the house would cave in.

"This is my bread and butter. I'm a landlord, you see," the elderly man said. "I depend on the income from these properties. Now the income will be gone."

Other businesspeople could suffer, too.

Wallace Wright said he recently opened up the Phinney Market nearby, partly because he expected a healthy flow of customers from the condos that were under construction. Now those condos will have to be rebuilt, if they are to open at all.

		Scott Eklund / P-I
	Mayor Greg Nickels, left, Seattle police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, center, and fire Chief Gregory Dean survey the damage to homes next to the condominium fire scene on Phinney Avenue North near the corner of North 61st Street.

Wright's market was unscathed except for a big crack in the big front window. But directly across from the condos, flying embers had rendered the Daily Planet Antiques' sign unreadable, and intense heat had melted, scorched or broken the signs at two restaurants and a dry-cleaning business.

Jade Takashima said the windows in her house were too hot to touch, and a neighbor's candles melted in the heat.

Firefighters were still putting out hot spots in the blackened remains of the condo building yesterday afternoon. It was still too unstable for investigators to enter, said the Fire Department's Fitzpatrick.

But investigations were completed at the five Lake City arson sites. Hardest hit was Cafe Long, which sustained $150,000 in damage to the structure and $50,000 to the contents.

The fire gutted the back portion of the Vietnamese cafe, destroyed an electrical pole outside and heavily scorched a brick building on its north side.

"Disgusting," was all Al Muanda could say yesterday afternoon, shaking his head as he examined the back of the torched business.

Muanda owns Kilimanjaro Market, which shares the cafe's south wall and was damaged by smoke. He's been in the tight block of independent businesses for 10 years and hasn't seen anything like this before, he said.

Four of the five Lake City arson fires were set within a half-hour period, starting at 2:19 a.m. at a garage on 20th Avenue Northeast.

Within 18 minutes, arson had hit the Bill Pierre Ford dealership on Lake City Way, where $30,000 in damage was done to the dealer's office, sign and fence, Fitzpatrick said.

Just six minutes later Cafe Long was burning, and five minutes after that, someone had ignited debris at another condo construction site at Northeast 130th Street and 30th Avenue Northeast, she said.

The last fire of the morning, a small one, was at 5:51 a.m. at an apartment construction site on Lake City Way.

The rash of fires consumed all of the city's firefighting resources, and crews from Bellevue, Kirkland, Woodinville and Shoreline were brought in. Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting with the investigation yesterday.

To prevent more fires, Seattle is using extra police patrols, contacting owners of high-risk properties and making sure construction sites are free of combustible material, Nickels said.

"The residents of Seattle need to know that we are doing everything we can," the mayor said. "By working together, we can put a stop to this."

TIP LINE

Authorities are asking anyone who has seen anything suspicious to

call a city hot line, 800-55ARSON.

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