Fire investigators are searching for any possible links among fires set in Snohomish, Lynnwood and Everett in the past three months.
They will meet this coming week to compare notes about the fires.
Arson destroyed two new homes in Snohomish in April, six dumpsters were set on fire in Lynnwood since May and a string of small fires were set in north Everett in June.
So far, police and firefighters do not believe these fires are related.
“(But) anytime anybody has a publicized spree we pull out our files and see if there’s any connections,” Everett Fire Marshal Warren Burns said.
No arrests have been made in any of the cases, leaving neighbors, business owners and builders worried.
A night watchman still patrols the Snohomish neighborhood where two homes were burned down. Builder Mark Marzolf hired him to keep watch as the houses are rebuilt.
Arson is one of the most difficult crimes to solve because key evidence is often destroyed by the flames, fire investigators say.
To catch an arsonist who’s set multiple fires, firefighters look for patterns, including the method of ignition, time and materials.
Police will sometimes set up surveillance cameras to watch for a fire-starter or watch an area that had been targeted in the past.
Information from observant family members and neighbors can also play a critical role.
“We need some kind of break, either someone seeing something or someone confessing,” Lynnwood Fire Inspector LeRoy McNulty said.
In 2003, 187 arsons were reported in Snohomish County, up slightly from 170 the year before, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs.
Fire investigators solve about 20 percent of those cases every year, Burns estimated.
Fire-starters are fascinated by the flames and won’t stop until they’re caught, Burns said.
“They’re going to keep going until we find them,” he said.
That’s what neighbors in north Everett fear.
Seven small fires have been set there since June 1. Investigators don’t know yet whether the fires were set by the same person. But police and firefighters say there are similarities between five of the seven fires.
In Lynnwood, police warned store owners after six fires were set in dumpsters behind businesses located on or near 196th Street SW.
In Snohomish, investigators are still probing whether the arsons were set by someone connected to the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front.
A note found at the site of one of the fires was signed ELF, but no one has directly claimed responsibility. The fires caused $1 million in damage.
Marzolf paid to rebuild the two homes himself after a dispute with his insurance company. Even if police catch the person responsible, Marzolf doubts builders’ fears will disappear.
“If they catch one,” he said. “They’ll be another one right behind that.”
Diana Hefley and Katherine Schiffner are reporters for the Herald in Everett.
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