Fire officials: Arson destroyed house under construction

An under-construction house was destroyed and two adjacent homes were damaged by arson early Thursday morning, according to fire investigators. It was the second Vancouver arson at a construction site in a 24-hour span.

Firefighters were called to 5712 N.E. 47th St. at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday for reports of flames coming through the roof of an unoccupied two-story house that was still being built, according to the Vancouver Fire Department.

Heavy smoke was seen from several miles away, the agency said.

It took a crew of 24 firefighters about 30 minutes to bring the fire under control. No injuries were reported.

Clark County Assistant Fire Marshal Richard Martin said the fire has been ruled an arson, and the damage to the house and two adjacent houses totaled about $600,000.

Investigators ask anyone with information about the incident to call the fire marshal’s office at 360-397-2186.

Neighbor Tara Richardson said she woke up to firefighters repeatedly ringing her doorbell in an attempt to evacuate her from her home. She came outside to see large, bright flames a few houses down.

“It looked like fire falling from the sky,” she said. “You could hear it roaring.”

She said she drove by Wednesday morning’s blaze, but “this one’s just way too close for comfort.”

Lawrence Stanfill El, who lives two houses away from Thursday’s fire, said neighbors woke him up to alert him to the flames.

“I thought my house was going to be next,” he said. “Embers were hitting my house.”

Stanfill El said that he’s seen teenagers run in and out of the under-construction houses and reported it to Manor Homes, which owns and builds the properties, but he said nothing was ever done.

The teens turned on a spigot and left it running, messed with bark dust and pulled wires, he said. Someone also wrote in wet cement, leaving behind expletives, a racial slur and a swastika, superintendent of Manor Homes Todd Davidson said.

Thursday’s fire was the second arson in the same area in Vancouver in a 24-hour period, and both blazes were set at construction sites. Fire officials say they are investigating the fires as possibly related.

An under construction 12-unit apartment building, about 1½ miles away at 4721 N.E. 66th Ave., was destroyed in a blaze reported at about 2:40 a.m. Wednesday.

That fire also was ruled an arson, and investigators are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in that case. Make a tip by calling 360-606-9024.

Martin said that investigators from the Clark County Fire Marshal’s Office planned to meet with members of the Vancouver Fire Marshal’s Office on Thursday to share information about the investigations.

The back-to-back arsons come less than three months after a string of arsons that damaged three current or former Clark County churches.

The first church fire was reported at about 3 a.m. May 25 at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Hazel Dell and caused nearly $2 million in damage. At about the same time the following morning, a fire was reported at Liberty Bible Church of the Nazarene in the Salmon Creek area. The church sustained some water damage from its fire-suppression system.

The third fire was reported at about 2 a.m. May 29 at a former church at 11910 N.E. 154th St. in Brush Prairie. It caused minor damage.

Following the fires, investigators formed the Church Arsonist Task Force, which includes the county fire marshal’s office, Vancouver Fire Department, Vancouver Police Department, Clark County Sheriff’s Office and federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Martin said that investigators will look into whether all five of the arsons are connected.

“It is possible they’re connected, but the probability at this point is pretty slim,” he said.

There are differences between the construction and church arsons, Martin said, but he declined to go into detail.