A series of suspicious fires in the Northwest side of Walla Walla have left police and firefighters flummoxed while wreaking havoc on the local community. Starting in early August when four fires were reported in just a 12 hour period, more suspicious fires have since occurred in the area. The most recent fire, near 111 George St, impacted multiple structures including Kelty’s Auto Parts.

Manager of Kelty’s Auto Parts, Kasey Kelty, says the business has been targeted by this arsonist four times.

Kelty was not present for the most recent fire, but he expressed frustration with the handling of the fires.

“I had some choice words for dispatch,” Kelty said.

Despite raising concerns, Kelty said he received a lackluster response.

“I’ve asked them to look into it multiple times and they didn’t,” Kelty said.

The fire at George Street quickly escalated, involving a house, a shop, and several cars. Under a mutual-aid agreement, the Walla Walla County Fire District 4 and the College Place Fire Department also responded.

Crews worked quickly to search the buildings for occupants and extinguish the fire, bringing it under control by 3:32 a.m. No injuries were reported, but damages to the property owned by Block Properties LLC were estimated to be $100,000.

Concurrently, an estimated $100,000 worth of damage was inflicted to a property located at 930 N. 4th Ave. Although the source of these fires is yet unknown, authorities are concerned about these accidents as they are the sixth to occur in the area since Aug. 1st.

When asked whether he felt safe, Kelty said he wasn’t the one who should feel unsafe.

 “If I catch the guy setting stuff on fire … he’s got way more to worry about,” Kelty said.

Kelty feels that the recent fires are likely the work of the same person who attacked his business.

“I’m sure that’s the same person doing it,” Kelty said.

The fires have had a significant financial impact on Kelty. For him, the costs have added up.

“It’s come out of my own pocket,” Kelty said. 

In addition to the financial strain, Kelty said some people initially reacted to the situation with skepticism, even accusing him of insurance fraud.  However, once the fires were deemed suspicious, the narrative began to shift.

“People are like, ‘Oh wait a minute, maybe that’s not what’s going on here,’” Kelty said.

According to Fred Hector, Deputy Fire Chief at Station 1 in the city of Walla Walla, these rapid-fire incidents seem suspicious and intentional.  The investigation of these incidents is happening in cooperation with the investigators at the fire department and the police department detectives. 

Hector also talked about the challenges the fire department faces during the investigation process when determining whether the fire incidences were likely to be intentional. 

“The biggest challenge in proving it is all of the evidence gets burned up, so when they’re in the investigation process, you’re rummaging through the remnants of fire trying to figure out the cause, and whatever caused it normally gets consumed in the fire so it’s extremely difficult to prove,” Hector said. 

Moreover, Hector elaborated on the reasons the fire department suspected that these incidents were suspicious.  

“They’re starting in places that have no reason to be on fire,” Hector said. “There’s no electricity to them, there’s no ignition source… but they’re bigger than they should be on initial dispatch and the initial arriving units.”

Hector said that all of the incidents follow similar patterns. Sometimes abandoned homes and remote regions resembling scrap yards are inhabited by individuals, even though these areas are generally uninhabited, adding to the danger of these fires.

Eric Wood, Deputy Fire Chief at Station 2 in the City of Walla Walla, said that while the incidents are suspicious they have not yet identified suspects. 

“We don’t have any particular suspects at this time. It’s suspicious in nature. We’ve had a total of six incidents within that general vicinity of town, and they are all presumed caused by human action. There’s been no speculation or reason to believe that it was accidental,” Wood said.

Wood emphasized the importance of community vigilance.

“It’s very important that people in that area of town make sure that if you see anything suspicious, please feel free to contact the non-emergency line and dispatch,” Wood said. “That way, we can investigate and make sure that we’re doing our due diligence to keep everybody safe.”

Residents have been asked to report any suspicious activity and to exercise caution, according to the Walla Walla Fire Department. If the public has any information about these incidents, they are urged to call 509-527-1960.