1 arrested as church, apartment buildings burn in Olympia

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A suspected arsonist has been arrested as firefighters battled three large fires across an Olympia neighborhood early Monday morning that left a church and two apartment buildings heavily damaged.

The first fire broke out just before 3 a.m. at the Cambridge Court Apartments in the 2300 block of 9th Ave SW, according to Assistant Chief Mike Buchanan with Olympia Fire. Firefighters found flames coming from the apartment's community building that had spread into the attic. The fire was eventually brought under control, but not before the roof sustained significant damage. The entire building suffered about $450,000 in damage, investigators estimated.

A second fire was reported 40 minutes later at the Hidden Creek Church just five blocks away. There, a fire was found burning in the basement. Firefighters managed to prevent the spread of flames into the building, though there was considerable smoke damage. Overall damage was estimated at $200,000.

Then about another 40 minutes later, a third fire was reported at the Fern Crest Apartments at 900 Fern Street SW, Buchanan said. A garage and car were engulfed in flames that quickly spread to the apartment above. That fire left severe damage to the building and attic leaving 8 of the 12 units uninhabitable. Twenty residents from the apartment fires have been displaced and the Red Cross is on the scene helping them find temporary shelter.

Damage to that building was estimated at $400,000, investigators said.

No one was injured in any of the blazes.

Police have declared the church fire as arson and identified a suspect using nearby surveillance video, Buchanan said. The suspect has since been arrested. The cause of the other two fires have been deemed as "suspicious" but investigators won't say yet if they think the three are connected.

Olympia firefighters thanked several neighboring fire departments and off-duty firefighters for coming in to help battle the multiple blazes.