PORT ANGELES – Two vehicle fires on the same night last week are being investigated as suspicious by both the city’s police and fire departments, said City Fire Chief Dan McKeen.
“Due to the timing and location of both fires, they are suspicious and are being fully investigated,” he said.
The first fire, a vehicle parked by the side of a house on Orcas Street, was reported at 9:24 p.m. Thursday.
The second fire, a vehicle parked on Laurel Street at Ninth Street, was reported at 11:17 p.m. Thursday.
“I received a phone call late that [Thursday] night, so there was no opportunity to follow up with the investigators,” McKeen said.
“I’ll know more after I get briefed on Monday.”
It is the second time in three years that suspicious car fires have occurred in Port Angeles.
In February, March and April 2005, police investigated as suspicious a string of five vehicle fires, three of which occurred on consecutive Wednesday nights. The cases never were solved.
The first in that string of fires occurred Feb. 10 in the 700 block of East Third Street.
A 1995 Saturn four-door sedan was set on fire March 23, 2005 in 700 block of East Third Street, a half-block from Jessie Webster Park.
A pickup truck also caught fire that same night about 30 minutes earlier in the 200 block of South Albert Street.
A 1990 Chevrolet Lumina burned late on the night of March 30, 2005 in the 700 block of East Second Street in Port Angeles.
Then a pickup truck was set ablaze in the 1000 block of West 13th Street just before midnight on April 7, 2005.
In those cases, the car fires seem to be set inside the passenger compartments of unlocked vehicles that are parked either along the curb or just off the street.
