WSU president asks students, staff to be on the lookout

Washington State University president Elson Floyd called on students and staff to be on the lookout for anything unusual after a second apartment community center burned down early Saturday morning. “It is now clear two fires this past week on the WSU Pullman campus appear to be suspicious in nature,” he said. Floyd said he has requested that campus police and university housing security “increase their diligence.” The first fire was reported May 22 at the community building at the Nez Perce apartment complex owned by WSU. The second was reported at 3:30 a.m. Saturday at the community building of the Chief Joseph apartment complex, also owned by WSU. The community buildings are used for meetings and have to be reserved by residents, who then check out a key to access them, according to a news release from Pullman Fire Department public information officer Glenn Johnson. No one was injured in either of the fires and no apartments were damaged. Johnson said an arson dog provided by the Spokane Valley Fire Department spent Saturday investigating both fire locations. The dog, named Mako, sniffs out common accelerants. Samples were collected where Mako alerted to be sent to a lab for testing. As of now investigators are calling the Chief Joseph fire suspicious and the Nez Perce fire undetermined, Johnson said.