Fire still seen as possible arson

Investigators consider the Whitley Fuel fire “suspicious” and continue to investigate it as a possible arson, despite confusion that stemmed from a faulty Fire Department press release sent earlier this week.

“It’s still a possibility that it’s an incendiary cause,” said Spokane Fire Department Assistant Chief Brian Schaeffer, who was also baffled by a television report that officials were holding a suspect. “We do not have a person of interest; I wish we did,” he said.

The premature arson claim came on Tuesday when the Fire Department sent out a note stating that the fire was deliberate. The department had accidentally used a template with wording from an old press release. The statement was later retracted. Schaeffer said officials are questioning people using a polygraph test, an action that may have led some to think officials had a suspect. But he said the polygraphs are a normal part of the investigation. “In any large-scale incident of this kind people who could have potentially started the fire will have a polygraph,” he said.

He did not confirm or deny reports about a possible tool discovered at the scene that may have triggered the fire. But sources familiar with the investigation said a punch – a tool that could have been used to create a gash – was found at the fire site on 2733 N. Pittsburg, along with holes in two of the tanks.

The polygraphs, as well as the entrance of the FBI and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into the investigation, have led to speculation by some in the vicinity of Whitley Fuel. Investigators have asked all those close to the investigation not to comment.

Wheelchair Transport driver Mark Goodno works at the building connected to Whitley Fuel and was one of the few people inside the gated area when the fire started. He made the 911 call when he saw fire coming from the back part of the warehouse and moving toward the tankers. He said he did not see anyone but that someone could have snuck through the gate without him noticing.

“There are holes in the fence and they could have gone through the wrecking yard or behind the warehouse and slipped out through the fence,” he said. “Where I was, there was a whole lot of area I couldn’t see and then I took off.”

But there is one official entrance to the fenced-in property, and Wheelchair Transport’s general manager Mike Best questioned the ability of a person to creep inside. “It just doesn’t make sense to me,” he said. “The back gate is locked and somebody would have to come through or jump the fence halfway down the lot. Our drivers are in and out. It’s awful risky.”

He said the businesses surrounding Whitley remain just as confused as everyone else. “(Officials) come in and ask questions, but they aren’t telling you nothing,” he said. “Everybody is just guessing.”

For Susie Groom, co-owner of Northwest Towing and Superior Towing, it’s enough that she still has a building in which to work. Along with the other mistaken reports, officials initially told Groom that her building had been destroyed. The 18 towed cars in her impound lot across from Whitley are gone but her building is fully intact, she said, and the business is “up and operating.”

Groom’s biggest concern is drawing back customers.

“Nobody thought we were here anymore but I keep telling people we are,” Groom said. “We still have to pay the rent.”