PORT ANGELES — Law enforcement and fire department authorities have confirmed that two fires this month west of Port Angeles were set by an arsonist and are investigating possible links with other blazes.
The Clallam County Sheriff’s Department has opened a criminal investigation into the two fires off state Highway 112 in the early morning hours of Jan. 5.
“We do not have a suspect, but there are lots of leads that are being investigated,” Clallam County Sheriff Bill Benedict said Friday.
“It appears they are related, whether that’s a serial arsonist or someone connected to all those incidents.”
The Jan. 5 fires destroyed an abandoned sedan and half of an abandoned modular home 10 miles west of the sedan about an hour later.
“We do believe those fires are arson,” Alex Baker, Clallam County Fire District No. 4 chief, said Friday.
Authorities also are opening their books on other unattended fires in Clallam County to explore any possible similarities to the Jan. 5 blazes, he added, citing four fires in a 15-mile radius in an area west of Port Angeles.
The county Sheriff’s Department and District No. 4 “are expending a lot of resources” into the investigation, Benedict said Friday.
Baker said the person or persons who set fire to the abandoned vehicle and modular home could be responsible for at least two more blazes in Clallam County involving abandoned structures or vehicles dating back to about November.
District No. 4 personnel were called to the sedan fire Jan. 5 at about 2 a.m. near Dodger Lane 5 miles east of Joyce.
Twenty minutes after fire personnel put out the sedan fire, they were called out to the modular home blaze 10 miles west of the sedan at Milepost 46 on Highway 112, Baker said.
Half of the vacant modular home was on fire.
The modular home was being transported and had broken down, Baker said.
“We can‘t determine how [the two fires] started, but our guess would be some kind of accelerant,” Baker said.
Officials also haven’t determined where in the vehicle and modular home the fires began, he added.
A suspicious fire also was set at the site of an abandoned house and detached garage at about 4 a.m. Dec. 18 on Durrwachter Road off Camp Hayden Road.
“We did find evidence that someone had been around that building within 24 hours of the building being burned,” said Baker, who would not go into details on evidence of arson that was found there.
A motor home that burned in October at Milepost 60 on Highway 112 near the Elwha River in county Fire District No. 2 also was suspicious, he added.
It was located about 6 miles east of the sedan fire, Baker said.
All four fires occurred within a 15-mile radius west of the Port Angeles city limits.
Common threads in the four fires include an absence of electrical power to the structures, the fact that the vehicles and structures were vacant or abandoned, and that the fires quickly accelerated in intensity, Baker said.
“They were all abandoned or derelict previous to a week of being lit on fire,” Baker said.
“Basically, these were targets of opportunity is the characteristic we are seeing.”
Cameron said authorities from multiple agencies are going through records of numerous unattended fires in the county.
“They want to look at all of them to see if there are any common denominators,” he said Friday.
Baker said he is fearful that someone might be in a vehicle or structure that an arsonist might torch without the person realizing it is occupied.
“I hope this stops before then,” he said. “That would be one of my fears, that this person hurts someone intentionally or unintentionally.”
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.