4 Seattle police vehicles torched at city garage
By Seattle Times staff
Three Seattle Police patrol cars and one police van were intentionally set on fire at Seattle's Charles Street garage this morning.
According to Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick, the vehicles were parked outside the garage but behind a security fence. The fire, which was reported shortly before 5 a.m., was so intense it set off sprinklers inside the garage, a maintenance facility for city vehicles.
There was smoke and water damage to the garage.
A police spokesman could not immediately provide an estimate of the loss or whether the vehicles were totaled.
Some city workers reported seeing a suspicious man in the lot before the fire, according to police.
The man was described as about 6 feet tall with thin build, wearing dark clothing and possibly carrying a backpack.
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Seattle firefighters walk passed a torched Seattle Police Department vehicle on the "ready line" in a city maintenance lot, after putting out flames Thursday morning.
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A Seattle firefighter stands in front of a torched Seattle Police Department vehicle on the "ready line" in a city maintenance lot, where at least two SPD vehicles were set afire early Thursday morning. A third vehicle, at right, appears to have been burned in the back from the fire starting in the vehicle at left.
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A crime scene photographer standing in front of a torched Seattle Police Department mobile command vehicle can be seen through the burned out roof in a city maintenance lot where at least two SPD vehicles were set afire early Thursday morning.
By Seattle Times staff
Three Seattle Police patrol cars and one police van were intentionally set on fire at Seattle's Charles Street garage this morning.
According to Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick, the vehicles were parked outside the garage but behind a security fence. The fire, which was reported shortly before 5 a.m., was so intense it set off sprinklers inside the garage, a maintenance facility for city vehicles.
There was smoke and water damage to the garage.
A police spokesman could not immediately provide an estimate of the loss or whether the vehicles were totaled.
Some city workers reported seeing a suspicious man in the lot before the fire, according to police.
The man was described as about 6 feet tall with thin build, wearing dark clothing and possibly carrying a backpack.
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Seattle firefighters walk passed a torched Seattle Police Department vehicle on the "ready line" in a city maintenance lot, after putting out flames Thursday morning.
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A Seattle firefighter stands in front of a torched Seattle Police Department vehicle on the "ready line" in a city maintenance lot, where at least two SPD vehicles were set afire early Thursday morning. A third vehicle, at right, appears to have been burned in the back from the fire starting in the vehicle at left.
KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES
A crime scene photographer standing in front of a torched Seattle Police Department mobile command vehicle can be seen through the burned out roof in a city maintenance lot where at least two SPD vehicles were set afire early Thursday morning.
