Suspect denies guilt in arson

The Spokane man accused of using aerial fireworks to ignite one of the worst commercial fires in Spokane history says he’s a victim of mistaken identity.

Timothy L. Jacobs, 19, was taken into custody Monday during a meeting with arson investigators probing the July 23 Whitley Fuel fire in northeast Spokane. It was the third or fourth time Jacobs had agreed to meet with authorities to answer questions about the blaze, which caused an estimated $20 million in damages and disrupted several nearby businesses.

“I know everyone says they’re innocent, but I really am,” a freshly fingerprinted Jacobs said during a jail house interview Monday afternoon. “I didn’t start it. I don’t know who did.”

Jacobs said he was washing clothes at a nearby laundry when the fire erupted and he walked over to see what was happening.

Authorities, however, say they’re confident they’ve solved the case.

Jacobs had been considered a person of interest for awhile, fire officials said.

“We had witness statements early on but we had to do a lot of work to make that all come together and make the arrest,” said Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams. “It’s satisfying to the Fire Department and fire investigators to have someone in custody we believe is responsible.”

Jacobs is charged with first-degree arson in connection with the blaze at 2733 N. Pittsburg. The fire sent a plume of black smoke into the sky that could be seen for miles.

Investigators say fireworks Jacobs was shooting off at the northeast Spokane facility ignited the blaze. Witnesses told authorities Jacobs was seen shooting fireworks at the fuel company just two days before the fire. Someone watching told him to stop and warned him of the fire danger, officials said.

Firefighters say they determined through numerous interviews that Jacobs was seen again on the day of the fire shooting off fireworks at Whitley Fuel and that he was seen running away when the fire started. The fireworks were described by authorities as the type that are shot into the air. It was unclear whether they were legal.

Jacobs insists he was at a laundry on the corner of Wellesley and Nevada when the blaze started. He said he was washing clothes, including his jeans, a hat and a sweatshirt. When the clothes were done, he saw the smoke and followed it, “like everybody else,” he said.

The Spokane resident, who lives with his father and grandmother in northwest Spokane, is unemployed. He has a criminal history dating back to 2001 that includes multiple thefts, assault, escape and reckless burning. The reckless burning charge stems from an incident where he used a lighter to burn off plastic hand restraints used by police after a prior arrest.

When asked why so many of his previous crimes were committed in the area of the Whitley Fuel depot, he said that’s where he grew up. He’s served short stints of confinement in juvenile detention.

If convicted of first-degree arson, Jacobs could face up to 20 years in prison.

He was adamant about his innocence. “I’ll take a polygraph right now, and I know I’ll pass it,” he said. “I’ll take it to trial. I didn’t do it.”

Meanwhile, Whitley Fuel’s general manager was feeling relief after hearing about the arrest.

“We’re thrilled,” Mike Lax said. “It’s wonderful news. It’s been a long few months.”

Staff writer Amy Cannata contributed to this report.