Woman arrested for string of arsons in Tacoma
Jan 28, 2022, 4:45 PM | Updated: Jan 31, 2022, 9:50 am
A house fire in Tacoma on Jan. 26, 2022. (Photo courtesy of Tacoma Fire/Twitter)
(Photo courtesy of Tacoma Fire/Twitter)
Tacoma police have arrested a woman suspected in a string of arsons from Tuesday evening to early Wednesday morning.
Police say the 42-year-old woman was arrested without incident at a home in Tacoma on Friday afternoon. Surveillance video and tips led to her arrest.
Wendy Haddow, spokesperson for the Tacoma Police Department, told KIRO Radio they do believe the woman is responsible for most or all of the arsons this week.
As of Thursday morning, 15 fires had been reported in the Tacoma area since Tuesday evening. Police have been investigating them as arsons.
No injuries were reported in the fires.
The building with the most damage was at a home on North Gove Street, in the 4600 block. Firefighters arrived around 2:23 a.m. Wednesday to find flames coming from the roof of the single-family home.
The fire was extinguished about 20 minutes later.
Jack Kelly lives next door to the house and told KIRO Newsradio reporter Nicole Jennings that he could feel the heat from the fire in his living room. He believes he knows why it was a target.
“It’s because there was nobody there. I assume somebody probably just walks around these neighborhoods at night,” he said.
Lieutenant Pete Jasper, a Tacoma fire investigator, said the house on Gove Street can be salvaged, but will need a new roof and extensive repairs.
Tacoma police identified the time and place of the initial eight arsons as follows:
- 7:48 p.m. 600 block of S. Trafton
- 8:10 p.m. 2000 block of S. 8th
- 8:27 p.m. 600 block of S. State
- 11:05 p.m. 5100 N Pearl
- 1:24 a.m. 4700 block of N. Orchard
- 2:06 a.m. 4600 N Gove
- 3:08 a.m. 3700 block of N. Cheyenne
- 3:56 a.m. 3700 block of N. Cheyenne
Three more arsons were discovered to have occurred within the same time period — Tuesday into Wednesday — by employees coming into work. At these sites, there was only minor damage. Arson investigators responded. Those three locations were:
- 4000 block of 6th Avenue
- 1500 block of S. Union Avenue
- 3200 block of S. D St.
The three fires Wednesday night into Thursday in Tacoma are as follows:
- Just after 7:30 p.m. 700 block of S. 56th St.
- Around 9:30 p.m. 500 block of S. 78th St.
- Just before 12:30 a.m. 1000 block of S. Mildred St.
KIRO Newsradio’s Nicole Jennings contributed to this report.
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