Woman pleads guilty to mobile home arson

A woman who burned down a north Spokane County mobile home because she wasn’t happy with her living arrangements pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree arson. While Amanda M. Cook, 24, was sentenced to only five months in jail – most of which has already been served – she was ordered to pay more than $68,800 in restitution for damage from the fire on March 27. “That’s going to be a huge mountain to overcome,” defense attorney Edward “Jay” Ames said of the restitution. “She made a terrible mistake.” Cook told deputies she intentionally set the fire at 32700 block of Elk-Chattaroy Road. Spokane Fire District 4 investigators had already deemed the fire suspicious because Cook had lit a mattress on fire at the same home the day before. But on the second try, Cook said she soaked a towel in gasoline and lit it on fire inside the garage and it spread to an attached mobile home. She took her dog to a neighbor’s home to avoid the blaze, which took 25 firefighters to bring under control. “I am sorry and I feel bad about it,” Cook told Superior Court Judge Annette Plese.