TUMWATER, Wash. — A man was arrested for arson on Monday after surveillance cameras captured him lighting the Brewmaster’s House building on fire on Jan. 21, according to the Tumwater Police Department.
Just after 6 a.m. Saturday, Tumwater police and crews with the Tumwater Fire Department responded to the 600 block of Deschutes Parkway after someone reported seeing the Brewmaster’s House — a historic home built in 1905 and formerly known as the Henderson House — on fire.
That person approached the building and knocked on the front door to ensure no one was inside before authorities arrived.
The northeast corner of the building was on fire once crews arrived at the scene.
Fire personnel extinguished the fire and determined there was “substantial fire damage” to the northeast corner of the building’s exterior.
The Tumwater Fire Department requested that an investigator with the Olympia Fire Department respond to the scene to assist with the investigation to determine the cause of the fire.
After reviewing the scene and video surveillance footage, investigators determined that the fire was set intentionally.
According to police, surveillance footage showed an unknown man approaching the Brewmaster’s House building from the west side of the street and lighting a butane torch.
The man then walked towards the northeast corner of the building, where he appeared to light the building on fire before walking back across the street and out of camera view.
Detectives returned to the building at about 9:45 a.m. Monday to continue investigating this incident.
They contacted several unhoused persons in the area, including a man who a detective recognized because he was wearing the same clothing as the suspect seen in the surveillance footage.
He also had a fresh burn wound on one of his hands.
While talking with police, he admitted to starting the fire, saying he “did it out of anger” toward another person.
The man was arrested and interviewed before being transported to a hospital to receive treatment for his burn wound. He was then booked at the Thurston County Jail for second-degree arson.
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