Pangs Not Suspects In Fire, Lawyer Says Two Teams Of Detectives Assigned To Investigation

The owners of the Mary Pang’s Food Products warehouse are not suspects in the arson that destroyed their building and killed four firefighters last week, the Pangs’ attorney said.

“That’s what the police told me about Mary and Harry Pang, directly to my face … that Mary and Harry are not under any suspicion whatsoever,” said Seattle attorney John Henry Browne.

Meanwhile, funeral services for firefighter Randall Terlicker were held at White Center Saturday - the last service for the four firefighters killed in the fire.

Browne said his law firm was hired by the Pangs to help with the insurance claim on the building and to handle police and media inquiries.

The Pangs were unaware that authorities had received information prior to the fire indicating that their building might be the target of an arson, Browne said.

“The Pangs were never informed. They are upset. They don’t understand it,” Browne said. “If there was a threat to your house, that someone was going to burn it down, wouldn’t you be confused about why you weren’t told that?”

Seattle Fire Chief Claude Harris said the building had been under surveillance because of threats made against it. According to The Seattle Times, a knowledgeable source said the surveillance had ended two days before the fire.

Officials confirmed Friday that the five-alarm blaze Jan. 5 was arson. The four firefighters - Lts. Walter Kilgore and Gregory Shoemaker and firefighters James T. Brown and Terlicker - were killed when the floor collapsed beneath them.

Two teams of Seattle homicide detectives have been assigned to the case, with as many as half of the unit’s 16 investigators expected to be made available to work on it.

News reports quoting unidentified sources say an arrest is expected imminently.

The state Department of Labor and Industries also has begun a formal investigation into the firefighters’ deaths.