Arson history not reported

Group home administrator Pam Brault was incensed when she read in her newspaper that the woman accused of setting fire to the Oak Hill Home for the mentally ill had a history of arson convictions.

Brault should have read that first in a report prepared by Eastern State Hospital.

“We had absolutely no history about fire starting,” Brault said. “To say the least, we’re not very happy.”

Oak Hill Home resident Peggye Anne Mitchell, also known as Peggye Brown, was charged Thursday with first-degree arson for allegedly starting a fire Monday that caused tens of thousands of dollars worth of water damage to the group home at 1728 W. Ninth Ave.

Brault said she wouldn’t have accepted Mitchell if she had known the woman was convicted of second-degree arson in 1991 and 1997 for starting fires at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake. In one case, Mitchell, 48, set fire to another patient’s bed as well as her own.

“We just wouldn’t put our other clients in danger that way,” Brault said. “I’ve got to answer to parents and people who have their family members here.”

Connie Wilmot, Eastern State Hospital’s chief operating officer, said Friday that privacy laws prevented her from discussing Mitchell’s case.

However, Wilmot said the mental hospital’s “working agreement” with the Spokane Regional Support Network requires the hospital to report criminal history to group homes when patients are transferred from the hospital.

The Regional Support Network is a Spokane County organization that oversees mental health services throughout the county. No spokesman could be reached Friday for comment on whether Eastern State Hospital’s report on Mitchell included her arson convictions.

Nor could the state officials who regulate Oak Hill Home be reached for comment.

Also unavailable for comment Friday was a spokesman for Sunshine Terrace, an adult residential rehabilitation center at 1102 S. Raymond Road that had Mitchell before she went to Oak Hill Home on April 28. Homes such as Sunshine Terrace provide more heavily structured programs than adult residential care facilities such as Oak Hill Home.

Eastern State Hospital doesn’t prepare new reports when clients are transferred from one group home to another. It couldn’t be determined Friday whether Sunshine Terrace gave Oak Hill Home all the information it received from Eastern State.

But Brault said there is no mention of arson in the document she received from Sunshine Terrace.

“We really rely on these (reports) to decide who we’re going to take and who we’re not going to take,” she said. “Maybe it’s something we should do in the future, but we don’t go over to the courthouse and check records.”

Brault’s information on Mitchell did include that she often has engaged in sexually inappropriate behavior, and Brault said that’s what triggered Monday’s incident. She said Mitchell went to the designated smoking area naked and became angry when other residents and employees objected.

Employee William Duncan was trying to get Mitchell to put her clothes on when she somehow got a butcher knife and waved it at Duncan, Brault said.

Knives ordinarily are kept in a locked drawer. Brault said she doesn’t know how Mitchell got the knife, but she might have taken it from a dishwasher that was running at the time.

Duncan withdrew from the confrontation and evacuated the home’s 11 other clients. It was then that Mitchell allegedly used a cigarette lighter to ignite some papers.

Automatic sprinklers quickly doused the fire, but firefighters couldn’t get into the building to turn off the sprinklers until police subdued Mitchell.

Police Officer Max Hewett had to put on a firefighter’s breathing apparatus to search for Mitchell through heavy smoke and water.

Hewett arrested Mitchell without incident, but the sprinklers were on for approximately 45 minutes, Brault said.

Sprinklers are “great as far as client safety, but, boy, do they do the damage,” she said.

Oak Hill Home is being gutted for repairs, Brault said.

Coincidentally, she said, a sensor too close to a light fixture set off sprinklers in Oak Hill’s next-door sister home, Memory Lane, on June 1. The sprinklers ran only seven minutes but caused about $50,000 worth of damage.

“Our poor insurance adjuster was just scratching his head,” Brault said, noting the cost of repairing Oak Hill Home hasn’t been determined.

She said the home is expected to be closed at least six weeks, but the owner – her mother, Elaine Charon – has only 15 days’ worth of business-interruption insurance.

Five employees were laid off, and others had their hours cut when Oak Hill’s residents were transferred to other group homes.

Brault said the incident also is affecting Memory Lane’s 21 residents. Under a new policy, cigarettes and matches will be locked up, and smoking will be allowed only under supervision.

“They’re very distraught over the whole thing, the clients, but for their safety we think it’s a step we have to take,” Brault said.