Hoquiam Police are investigating a suspected arson fire that occurred in downtown Hoquiam Thursday night. After extinguishing the fire, authorities discovered two suspicious objects inside the building — a timed, incendiary device that failed to go off in a backpack away from the fire, and another object found at the fire’s point of origin.
“Because of the presence of the first item and the failed incendiary device, we’re definitely calling this an arson,” Hoquiam Police Chief Jeff Myers said Friday afternoon. He declined to further specify what either object was.
The fire happened at 708 Simpson Ave. in Hoquiam at approximately 10:30 p.m. Thursday, damaging primarily the first floor of what used to be the Detour Bar and Grill. The business has been closed for some time. The space once housed Gamburs restaurant and lounge. The first 911 call came from a resident of Emerson Manor across the street, who spotted smoke coming from the roof.
The bar has been closed for over a decade, but Myers said the inside was getting renovations done, which lessened the effects of the fire.
“Although the inside was burned and charred, the fire didn’t have as much fuel as a fully completed building,” said Myers.
Firefighters were able to quickly put out the fire, after which they discovered the two suspicious items. In order to safely handle the incendiary device, police called in the Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad, which arrived from Olympia early Friday morning.
The bomb squad then examined, X-rayed and successfully deactivated the device, which failed to go off. The squad transported it, and the other object which started the fire to the State Patrol Crime Laboratory.
Police reported there was an estimated $15,000 in damage to the building, but no one was injured and no one was believed to be living in the upper-floor apartments. The structure is still structurally sound, and Myers said there could have been much more damage done to adjacent buildings had it not been for the local resident who called 911. The fire also spread somewhat to the building’s second-floor mezzanine.
Myers said they do not yet have any suspects, but they are still investigating and had a team of fire officials and police from Hoquiam’s special operations team at the scene for most of Friday.
The Emerson Manor resident who called 911, James Mckinney, said he was somewhat suspicious of a person he saw walking past the building before the fire occurred. He saw the man try to open the door, Mckinney said.
Another aspect that made Chief Myers suspect this could be an arson case was that Simpson Avenue has been blocked off for car traffic because of construction. Myers said that because no cars were in the immediate area, it may have influenced someone to believe a fire would go unnoticed longer.
“Normally there would be traffic driving down there,” said Myers. “Several blocks in each direction are closed to traffic, so it heightens our concern for arson because it’s that much more likely someone wouldn’t have noticed.”
