Fire marshal calls three recent blazes suspicious
July 15, 2008
By Emily Keller
Sammamish has been the site of three suspicious fires in recent weeks. Two of the fires took place on the 20500 block of Northeast 29th Street and the third was in a dumpster behind Quality Food Centers at 2902 228th Avenue Southeast.
Fire Marshal Tim Pilling of Eastside Fire and Rescue said there is no evidence linking the blazes, which were all extinguished quickly and caused minimal damage. He said they may have been the result of mischief that sometimes accompanies the Fourth of July holiday, or improperly discarded cigarettes. There are no indications that the fires were intentionally set.
“We don’t just jump into thinking someone deliberately set the fires. It could have been an act of stupidity to put it bluntly,” Pilling said. “People kind of do silly things this time of year.”
Neighbors extinguished the first fire, which occurred at 5:25 p.m. June 19 on a trail near Northeast 29th Street, where a tree stump was burned. Firefighters extinguished the second blaze, which occurred at 2:23 a.m. June 30 in front of a home on the same street, where there were bushes on fire. Pilling said the bushes had more damage than the stump because of their oil content.
The third fire was in a large dumpster behind the Quality Food Centers grocery store between 1 and 1:30 a.m. July 5. The fire was already extinguished when police arrived. The dumpster had $100 worth of paint damage from the heat. That blaze is also considered suspicious.
“Dumpster fires don’t normally start by themselves. There’s no heat source around like you’d have an electrical appliance or having candles in their home,” Pilling said.
Although there are no leads in the cases, two neighbors made witness reports about the 29th Street fires.
One neighbor made a report on July 2 that she had been awakened three nights in a row by a loud noise between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.
On one night she saw a black two-door pickup and two men who may have been in their teens or early twenties get out of the vehicle and walk to the trail behind the 2800 block of 206th Terrace Northeast.
Another resident said she saw a large sport utility vehicle make a U-turn on the street when a fire engine arrived. Pilling described those tips as vague.
To prevent fires from starting or spreading, Pilling suggests having a neighborhood watch and leaving lights on.
Reporter Emily Keller can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 242, or ekeller@isspress.com.
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