Woman charged in Lynnwood motel blaze

LYNNWOOD — A woman accused of setting fire to her Lynnwood motel room to get financial assistance from the Red Cross spent time in prison a decade ago for starting a fire at a Texas church, court documents show.

Rachel Jean Martin, 30, is charged with first-degree arson for the Aug. 10 blaze that hurt three people and damaged the Lynnwood Best Motor Inn. Martin is scheduled to be arraigned Friday in Snohomish County Superior Court.

She told Lynnwood detectives she put a lit candle against a pillow in her motel room, opened a window to let her cat escape and then walked out of the door, according to court documents.

Martin said she started the fire because she was broke and frustrated, Lynnwood police reported. She told detectives she thought Red Cross disaster relief workers would give her money if she was displaced by a fire, court records show.

Martin, who is believed to be homeless, said she received assistance from the Red Cross in California after an accidental fire at a hotel where she was staying in January, Snoho­mish County deputy prosecutor Helene Blume wrote in charging papers.

Snohomish County Red Cross disaster workers did provide assistance to the woman after the Lynnwood fire. Red Cross officials said they will try to recoup the money they had given Martin to help her with food, lodging and clothing.

Martin told police she has multiple personalities. She also said she didn’t think the fire would spread so quickly and she never intended to hurt anyone, Blume wrote.

Lynnwood firefighters had to rescue one man stranded on the second floor of the motel. He and two other lodgers were treated for smoke inhalation at a local hospital. The blaze displaced dozens of people. The motel remains closed.

Martin was convicted in 1997 of second-degree arson for staring a fire at a church in Beaumont, Texas. She was sentenced to five years in prison for the blaze.

Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.