SEATTLE The reward is growing for information leading to the arrest of whoever has set 14 fires in the Seattle area since June, some of which destroyed a coffee bar and three restaurants while damaging another eatery, police said this week.
Seattle Police Department officials said that the reward fund had reached $20,000 and was building in connection with the arson case being investigated by that agency, the Seattle Fire Department and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. They said people with tips about the arson fires primarily targeting small businesses in the Greenwood neighborhood could call 1-800-552-7766.
The most costly of the arson incidences to date occurred Oct. 23 when a blaze at the Green Bean Coffee House spread to three nearby restaurants - Szechuan Bistro, C.C. Teriyaki and Pho Tic Tac – destroying all four businesses and causing $2 million in damage, fire department officials said.
Another blaze during the early morning hours of Nov. 9 outside Olive You, a Mediterranean foods restaurant and take-out operation, caused an estimated $20,000 in damage, they noted.
Acommunity briefing Nov. 10 about the arson investigation by police, fire and city officials attracted an overflow crowd to the Phinney Ridge Lutheran Church, attendees said. The gathering followed by five days the fire department’s announcement that Greenwood would get arson patrols.
“It was a positive meeting, bringing people together for a common cause,” said area restaurateur Jeff Eagan of 74th Street Ale House. “Even though the police and fire departments are on patrol, we learned some things that we can do to protect ourselves,” he said, adding that one of those strategies involves “installing motion-sensitive outdoor lighting systems.”
Other preventative measures touched on during the community meeting included keeping combustible materials away from buildings — including items intended for recycling — as some of the blazes have involved readily available fuels.
Restaurateur Eagan said some Greenwood neighborhood business owners attending the Tuesday night meeting spoke of staying overnight in their businesses to keep watch and, perhaps, give the arsonist or arsonists a reason to look elsewhere for a target.
But fire department officials reportedly are wary of such a strategy. Arsonists may assume that businesses are empty in off hours and shopkeepers inside may fall asleep and be overcome by the smoke, if not the flames, from a blaze they were not awake to detect, fire department officials at Tuesday’s meeting reportedly pointed out, according to the phinneywood.com blog.
Though investigators indicated they are not sure that the same person or persons started all of the arson fires, they have identified a string of what appear to have been intentionally set blazes going back to June 19. On that date, a fire in a vacant building that previously housed the OK Corral BBQ restaurant in Greenwood caused an estimated $500 in damage, the fire department said.
Following the arson fires, foodservice operators were among those who offered assistance to the victims.
For instance, Steven and Diana Naramore, owners of the Sip & Ship in Greenwood, which combines a shipping service with an espresso bar, have agreed to let the nonprofit Green Bean Coffee House use their coffee-bar equipment and operate out of the Sip & Ship space while the burned-out business plots a future course, Green Bean officials said. The Green Bean at Sip & Ship venture is slated to open Nov. 14.
The Greenwood branch of the three-unit Wing Dome chain also has helped out. It said at its Facebook.com page that it would donate to the Greenwood Fire Relief Funds proceeds from Nov. 1 sales of specified beers and burgers.
Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected].
