<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Monday, March 18, 2024
March 18, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Boy pleads not guilty in warehouse arson case

A second suspect remains at large

By
Published:

A 14-year-old boy has pleaded not guilty to setting a March 14 fire that destroyed a vacant seed factory warehouse next door to Endeavor Elementary School in Vancouver.

The boy is scheduled to be tried June 11 on a charge of second-degree arson.

He was arrested March 23 following a nine-day investigation by the Vancouver Fire Arson Team of the fire at the former Brown Seed Co. building in the Landover-Sharmel neighborhood.

The fire was reported at 5:55 p.m. in the concrete-block structure at 12101 N.E. 28th St. Witnesses said they saw two teenage boys jump a fence separating the warehouse from the school campus. One was carrying what appeared to be a gasoline canister. Minutes later, witnesses heard explosions.

Alan Brown, the building’s former owner, said the property was also sold on March 14 after languishing on the market.

The fire caused at least $200,000 in damage.

The boy who was arrested March 23 admitted to setting the fire but didn’t explain his motive, according to court records. The other suspect remains at large, said Vancouver Fire Marshal Heidi Scarpelli. The fire arson team is composed of fire marshal experts and police officers who investigate arson together. The team has a 33 percent arrest and conviction rate on arson fires, compared with about 8 percent nationwide.

Loading...
Tags