SPOKANE, Wash. — Spokane Fire is investigating a series of fires that have been intentionally started in the Southgate neighborhood over the past week.
According to SFD, there have been five total fires in the area of 53rd and Regal since last week, including two dumpster fires that occurred Tuesday night.
One neighbor near the fires said it sounded like an explosion when one of the dumpsters went up in flames.
“It’s not a good situation, so we need to get this person or people off the street,” said SFD’s Justin DeReuyter.
The Trestle Creek Apartments were also targeted on December 4. Fire crews tackled a fire in one of the apartment’s garages.
While they were fighting those flames, someone lit two nearby dumpsters on fire.
“It’s been the concern from the beginning, that all these buildings are highly occupied,” said DeReuyter.
Two more dumpsters fires were set on December 10, just feet away from the apartments.
DeReuyter said, on average, fires double in size every minute, so because the dumpsters are full of fuel and close to apartment buildings, the risk is great.
“You’ve got enough fuel in here, a couple 3 or 4 minutes of burning, you’ve got quite a fire producing quite a bit of heat that has the potential to light anything else around it,” he said.
Over the summer, the South Hill dealt with another string of arson fires, set by a 13-year-old. Those fires caused nearly $160,000 worth of damage to the car wash on Regal Street.
DeRueyter said they are still working on tracking down the person or people involved, and no matter their age, the consequences will be severe.
He said if you saw anything you think could be helpful in the investigation to let SFD know.
“You may not think it’s important or related, but let us know and we can follow up on that,” he said.
You can contact SFD at 509-625-7000.
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