Police suspect arsonist set 6 fires near downtown Spokane

Spokane fire investigators believe an arsonist set six fires, including to a church office building, near downtown early Tuesday.

Firefighters were called to My Fresh Basket, 1030 W. Summit Parkway, about 4 a.m., Spokane police Sgt. Teresa Fuller said. Flames damaged a door at the grocery story.

A blaze caused significant damage to a former house, 310 S. Chandler St., now used as an office and youth center for Orchard Christian Fellowship. Church Elder Larry Anderson said the congregation does homeless outreach but has dealt with vandalism and other problems from people hanging out around the freeway over the years. He said he had not heard any evidence that the church was targeted specifically.

He said the building is insured, but it will take six to eight months to repair.

Other fires were set to an electric vehicle charger near the Washington State University-Spokane campus, a median near Spokane Falls Boulevard and Pine Street, and two other structures, Fuller said. No building that was set on fire was occupied at the time.

Fuller said police have identified a “person of interest” they believe may have set the fires, and officers are looking for that person.

She asked that anyone with information or security camera footage from the area to call Crime Check at (509) 456-2233.

“As dry and as hot as it has been, this is concerning to us,” Fuller said.

Deliberately set fires are nothing new to Spokane, even in the past 1½ months.

Spokane police are investigating wildfires that burned in May on the steep, wooded High Drive bluff on the South Hill.

A 37-year-old man convicted of lighting fires last year in downtown Spokane and at a Spokane pet grooming business was seen walking away from the fires, according to court documents. It does not appear that man has been arrested for the South Hill fires.

The fires appeared to have been started deliberately at Bernard Street and High Drive, and continued east about one block to Manito Boulevard, court records show. Firefighters extinguished the fires, and no homes burned.

Later, a 45-year-old man with a previous reckless burning conviction was arrested after authorities say he started a brush fire June 21 on the Centennial Trail near Gateway Regional Park in Otis Orchards, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.

Christopher S. Walser was booked into jail for misdemeanor second-degree reckless burning, to which he pleaded guilty June 30. He was given credit for the nine days he served in jail and then released, according to court documents.

S-R reporter Garrett Cabeza contributed to this story.

Editor’s note: This report was changed on July 10, 2025, to correct the address for a former house used as an office and youth center for Orchard Christian Fellowship. The address 310 S. Chandler St.