Multiple fires set near NorthTown Mall on Monday morning

Spokane police and firefighters are investigating numerous arson fires that destroyed multiple vehicles early Monday in north Spokane.

Police first responded to reports of fire and gunshots just blocks north of NorthTown Mall .

Michala Mowery, who lives on the block of 40 East Crown Avenue, woke to a boom at about 2:30 a.m. to discover that the pickup that belongs to her partner, David Wilde, was on fire in front of her home.

The black Ford F150’s alarm was going off and the fire was leaping up toward a tree in the front yard. Their neighbor’s white truck also was engulfed in flames.

“I woke up to the boom and I hear (Wilde) say the truck was on fire,” Mowery said.

Wilde took a fire extinguisher outside and tried to put out the fire but it was too late.

Once the Fire Department arrived, the flames were extinguished within about 20 minutes, Wilde said. But not long after Wilde’s truck was extinguished first responders received another call indicating a car up the block was on fire.

The Spokane Fire Department responded to a second fire in the same area, east of the original incident. Two more cars and a garbage can were ablaze with flames spreading to a detached garage.

Not long after that, a fence and dumpster were reported to be on fire at a bank just north of the mall.

Within an hour of the original incidents, numerous fires were set at a U-Haul Storage near Division and Magnesium. Multiple vehicles were damaged.

At least one other caller reported damage at a North Side residence later in the morning.

Cody Vining’s truck, parked just behind Wilde’s, was also on fire.

Vining said he was awakened by the light streaming into his house from the fire.

“Oh, it was bad,” Vining said. “It was hot.”

Vining said he thought the truck would blow up but firefighters put the flames out before a substantial explosion.

“Instantly, we knew it was gone,” Vining said of the truck he had bought just last year.

By mid-morning Monday, Vining was waiting for his insurance company to help with the removal of the truck.

“Once they get that thing out of there I can quit looking at it,” Vining said.

Spokane Police Major Crimes detectives collected video evidence that showed a woman, who police consider to be a person of interest, removing an article of clothing as she moved through the mall parking lot.

Police are looking for help identifying the woman captured on surveillance footage. Those with information related to the incident can call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.