Abandoned Ski Lodge, House Victims Of Arson
Arsonists hit two abandoned Valley buildings late last week, causing minor damage to each. The incidents were not linked, police said.
Someone set fire to the attic of the old Holiday Hills lodge early Saturday, causing about $500 in damage, Valley fire officials said.
The long-abandoned ski lodge near Liberty Lake has been the victim of repeated vandalism, sheriff’s deputies said. Broken windows and empty beer cans point to the lodge as likely site of parties.
Firefighters from the Spokane Valley Fire District No. 1 were called to the lodge just after midnight. They found a fire burning in the attic, as well as one in the lodge’s fireplace. Both were quickly extinguished.
No arrests have been made.
Jireh Investments of Post Falls has been negotiating with Liberty Lake Land Co. to purchase the lodge and 640 surrounding acres. The sale has not yet closed, but could be completed within the next few weeks, according to officials with Kiemle and Hagood Co., the firm marketing the land for Liberty Lake Land Co.
In a second arson case, sheriff’s deputies arrested three boys for setting fire to a boarded-up house on University Road Friday.
The boys, age 12, 13 and 13, were runaways from a Valley group home, sheriff’s deputies said. They were arrested for second-degree arson and second-degree burglary.
After leaving the group home Thursday, the boys apparently spent the night in an unlocked car on East Sprague Avenue. Sheriff’s deputies found remnants of a fire, probably set to provide heat, in a metal bucket inside the car.
A passerby called police at about noon Friday after seeing someone throwing things out of the window of an unoccupied house in the South 500 block of University Road.
When a sheriff’s deputy arrived, he saw smoke coming out of the windows and noticed three white males. He chased them about 10 blocks, capturing all three.
Firefighters found two fires inside the two-story home: one set in the cushions of a couch and one burning the floor and wall of a bedroom.
Because the owners plan to tear it down, monetary loss was minor.
, DataTimes