PORT LUDLOW — Arson is the cause of an early morning blaze that destroyed and damaged condominiums early Thursday, fire officials said Tuesday night.
“The bottom line is it’s arson, and we’re going to work on it jointly,” said Julianne Marshall, spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives office in Seattle.
Marshall and other fire officials declined to say if there were arson suspects in the fire, but confirmed that the next step in the criminal matter would be an arrest.
The fast-moving blaze, which leveled a four-unit Admiralty Condominiums building at The Resort At Port Ludlow, and damaged two more in a neighboring fourplex, left more than $1 million in damage.
The four-day investigation by ATF and firefighters focused on the remains of a Ford Taurus parked in a carport under the fourplex that witnesses said was ablaze with a door open.
No details on fire start
Officials declined to detail what was used to ignite the fire.
Three residents of the 30-year-old condo complex escaped unharmed during the spectacular fire that originated in the Ford Taurus beneath the three-story, wood-frame building shortly after 4 a.m.
Investigators are withholding the vehicle owner’s name.