Results tagged “arson”

The Seattle Times reported over the weekend that Seattle police have arrested a primary "person of interest" in the recent rash of Greenwood arsons. Kevin Todd Swalwell, a middle-aged homeless man, has been convicted of arson in the past and has since been linked to several fires after a tip put Swalwell on detectives' radar.

Taproot Theatre is adding its insurance coverage to the NW Insurance Council's reward for apprehending the arsonists responsible for the recent fires throughout Greenwood, bringing the award up to $25,000.

Phinneywood says that those three Greenwood fires in the last two days were set by an arsonist. And so was an earlier fire on June 19, which brings the total to four. Yesterday's fire was the first that involved an injury--a 50-year-old man was burned. Read all about the arson investigation on the SFD's Fire Line. If you see an arsonist, remember to call the Arson Alarm Hotline number at 1-800-55-ARSON.

We're just trying to imagine how police will go about investigating this morning's fire at the 10500 block of Midvale Avenue N (just off Aurora, near N Northgate Way). The SPD Blotter reports that the fire, which began at 4 a.m., was the result of an accelerant being "sprayed on and underneath" the victim's front door. No one was injured.

The Medical Examiner's office now says that the lone hold-out who died in the Marion Apartments fire, Ed Jackson, shot himself in the head. We'd been wondering about that ever since CHS mentioned yesterday that a gun had been found at the scene. It's beginning to seem likely that Jackson, a former apartment manager there, set the fire himself on the morning he was due to be evicted, then committed suicide. The Marion Apartments were going to be demolished and the lot developed.

So reports the Seattle 911 blog: "Late Monday, investigators said the blaze was deliberately set when 'combustible materials' were lit in a first-floor apartment." The resulting fire killed the building's last tenant, Ed Jackson, 89, on the day he was scheduled to move or be evicted. Commenter Jesse said yesterday the timing of this fire sounded fishy. Looks like he was right. The P-I has more details on the Capitol Hill fire here.

If we were feeling snarky, we'd say it serves them right: after all, the vandalism of the booth is a mini-version of what the GOP leadership has done to the United States' image overseas in the past eight years, right? Poetic justice! But something about setting things on fire in the middle of a notoriously crowded festival strikes us as...well...inexcusably dangerous and short-sighted, even if what you're setting on fire symbolizes foreign and domestic policy of which you are very, very tired after eight years.

• My Ballard lets all you Ballard-drivers know that a traffic camera has been installed at the busy corner of 15th and Market.
• The Rainier Valley Post reports that Ana Ortega, the principal at Ali Kurose Middle School has resigned in the midst of an SPD investigation into sexual abuse by a teacher's aide at the school.
• Phinneywood is mourning the loss of another Woodland Park Zoo animal. Last week it was a monkey from congestive heart failure; today, a gazelle that died after being attacked by another animal in the African Savannah exhibit. (The lions are pleading the 5th.)

Even the most studious among us probably fantasized about our schools burning to the ground during our younger years. Seattlest most certainly did! But three boys in Concrete, Wash., ages 11 and 12 actually did it, albeit unintentionally.

A Lakewood, Wash., 17-year-old and her infant son are lucky to be alive after a natural gas explosion blew their home off its foundation Wednesday afternoon. Around 3 p.m., Kristine Manues came home and noticed the smell of gas, so she went to a neighbor's house. Within five minutes of leaving her home, infant in her arms, an explosion rocked the neighborhood.

Seriously, we're surprised the local news stations have not created special icons to attach to all of their recent environmentally-motivated arson stories. Usually, if an event has gone on this long or had this much prominent news coverage in Seattle, local newscasters have given it some sort of pet-name by now.

AP Photo/Elaine Thompson

What defines a terrorist or terrorism? You know, besides standing between a Republican and the camera he wants to install in your panty drawer? Is it your actions? Is it your nationality? Is it your race? Is it your intent? We better figure it out because there are suddenly a whole lot of laws on the books all over the place that say criminals get this sentence and terrorists get this other one. Down in Eugene right now the (and this next word is important) eco-saboteurs who perpetrated a string of arsons across the Pacific Northwest are about to be sentenced.

If you like trucks, if you like the darndest equipment and gear, or if beefy firefighters and/or the color turns you on, grab the family and head on over to Fire Station 17 this weekend! They are having an Open House this Saturday. We live about two blocks from these guys and girls and they really earn their keep; we're glad to have them as neighbors. We occasionally see one come in to buy a snack at the Plaid Pantry on 50th and Roosevelt while we are buying aerosol cheese and print pornography. Every time, we want to hug the living beejeezus out of them --but we don't because it might seem a little forward. Maybe we'll bring them hot soup instead.

--A P-I editorial targets what may be the state's last living Republican (via Northwest Progressive Institute)

Yesterday we wrote a post on the four ELF arsonists who changed their pleas to guilty in an Oregon court. We indicated that they made deals with the prosecution and would receive lighter sentences in exchange for testifying against each other. Wrong. Sorry, the newspaper reports sucked yesterday and occasionally we're only as good as the source material. They did non-cooperation plea agreements which means they copped to the charges (attempted arson, conspiracy, arson; it varied with the defendants), but didn't agree to provide information against others.

The aggressively righteous environmentalists who had the brilliant idea of changing the world via firebombings in the Pacific Northwest a few years back have a court date today. Four of them are changing their plea to guilty (arson) after striking a deal with prosecutors in Oregon. Attorneys involved with the case haven't given the specifics of the deals that were made, but of the thirteen people charged six others have previously submitted guilty pleas in exchange for testimony against other defendants. Three of these guys are still at large so according to Seattlest's calculator all ten ecosabatuers currently in custody have accepted deals in exchange for testimony - Are they testifying against each other or the three guys who are still communing with nature?

Police attribute an arson in the Central District last night to a fight over an XBox. From KIRO:

-BLVD (who we talked to earlier this week) opens their inaugural show tonight.

Someone was finally charged with arson in the case of the UW Horticulture fire of 2001 and no it wasn't someone from Eugene although we know you want to jump to that conclusion you anti-Oregonian. She's from Berkeley which we hope was going to be your second guess.

Seattle area websites and the sys admins who tend to them are trembling in fear today after the horrific retrubution for the Mohammad Cartoons was paid upon our collective heads over the weekend. Riots, arson, killings, silly pictures drawn of our idols? No, worse! Hacktivism! A local motor scooter club for women had their site defaced with "If insulting a Messenger of Allah ( God ) is a Freedom of Speech !!!? & it Creates Hating Then, I'll Show you my Freedom Of H4x0ring in Your Servers !!!" and similar.

-No more pesky polling places for King County voters - Come 2007 we'll be voting by mail. Well, we pay our bills online, correspond online and turn down countless offers of credit online. In 2007 voting and Netflix will be our only two interactions with the USPS.