PORT TOWNSEND — Police say four teenagers set the Aug. 4 fire that destroyed Aldrich’s grocery, a historic Uptown Port Townsend landmark.
But, the fire doesn’t appear to be arson, Police Chief Kristen Anderson said Tuesday.
“There was no motive or intent to destroy the building,” she said. Anderson’s assertion was based on interviews with one of the juveniles.
The fire appeared to be a case of juvenile mischief and the flames “got away from them,” Anderson said.
Aldrich’s co-owner Jonathan Ryweck said he was shocked when he learned the cause.
“To know that a couple of kids could have done this and turned my life, and my family’s life, upside down is hard to take,” Ryweck said.
“There was no answer that was not going to make me feel sick,” he said said after the cause was revealed during a press conference.
Anderson said the juveniles probably won’t be charged with arson, but with something like reckless burning. But that’s up to the prosecuting attorney, she added.
Tips from citizens helped investigators determine the cause of the fire, Anderson said.
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The rest of this story appears in Wednesday’s Peninsula Daily News.
