Tag: arson
By Samantha Wohlfeil
BELLINGHAM – What initially sounded like an arson at a vacant house on Primrose Lane turned out to be a small fire set and extinguished by two transient people apparently living in the house, according to Bellingham Police.
Reports of visible flames and smoke first came across the police scanner at about 9:47 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 22.
Firefighters responded, but when they tried to enter the house, a transient man tried to block the door, Bellingham Police Sgt. Shawn Aiumu said.
Officers arrived and arrested the man for obstructing law enforcement, Aiumu said.
The small fire was out by the time firefighters entered the house.
Apparently the man and a transient woman were living in the abandoned house. They had brought in a few shopping carts filled with their things, Aiumu said.
The man claimed the woman started the fire, and he put it out, but the woman claimed the man started the fire and she put it out, Aiumu said.
No serious damage was reported.
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By Caleb Hutton
Via police scanner traffic:
LUMMI RESERVATION — A group of four preteen girls were seen trying to light a “Port-a-Potty” on fire about 2:40 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 8, at the Stommish Grounds on the Lummi Reservation.
Dispatchers said someone at the nearby veterans office reported the fire. Within moments of the report, the flames were extinguished.
One suspect was wearing a light blue shirt; the second wore a black shirt with her hair in a ponytail; the third had a pink top and brown hair; the fourth wore a blue and white tie-dye T-shirt.
No word yet about what the girls might have used to ignite the toilet.
Fire District 8 Chief Dean Whitney was out of the office this afternoon, and crews were out responding to calls when I phoned the district office.
Lummi spokespeople were out of the office, too.
By Caleb Hutton
A meth user took apart a stolen 1997 Volkswagen Golf, then set the body of the car on fire outside a warehouse early Tuesday, July 10, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies responded to a report of a suspicious car fire at 5:16 a.m. Tuesday. They found Bradley Allen Ferris Jr., 32, of Sedro-Woolley, was squatting in a warehouse in the 3100 block of Mercer Avenue with a group of meth users, said Whatcom County Undersheriff Jeff Parks.
Inside the warehouse, it appeared someone had used a forklift to lift the Golf and picked out valuable pieces for resale, Parks said. The value of the car was about $3,500; the removed parts were worth about $1,000. Someone had taken the rest of the car and set it aflame outside.
“I don’t know why,” Parks said. ”(They’re) using methamphetamine here, so they’re not exactly functioning at a high level.”
Ferris was arrested on suspicion of setting the car on fire. Deputies found drug paraphernalia with meth residue scattered around the inside of the warehouse. They also found empty gas cans, probably used to ignite the car, Parks said.
It appeared Ferris had, at one point, been employed there. But he no longer had permission to be on the property, Parks said. Neither did the other people.
Ferris is accused of second-degree arson, first-degree possession of stolen property and possession of meth.
Another man, Robert Dee Angus, 22, was also arrested on investigation of possessing the stolen car and possessing meth.
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