A man who was initially treated as a victim after being pulled from a massive railroad fire in Snohomish has now been arrested and accused of intentionally sparking the blaze.
The incident occurred early in the morning when a major fire broke out along an abandoned wooden rail trestle near Airport Way, close to Harvey Field. The intense fire quickly engulfed roughly 300 feet of the structure, sending thick plumes of smoke into the air and forcing an emergency shutdown of the heavily traveled roadway, as well as an active BNSF railway line running underneath. Around 50 firefighters from multiple area departments responded to extinguish the intense, chemical-laden creosote flames.
During the emergency response, Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies discovered a 51-year-old man crawling along the tracks. He was rescued and taken to a local hospital to be treated for relatively minor burns to his hands and feet.
However, a subsequent investigation by the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s Office quickly cast doubt on the man’s version of events. The suspect, who had been camping near the trestle, claimed he woke up surrounded by a “wall of fire” after hearing loud explosions, and had tried to use his shirt to smother the flames. Investigators noted that he lacked the singed hair or standard injuries typical of a dramatic escape or firefighting attempt. Furthermore, physical evidence indicated the fire had two entirely separate starting points, and investigators determined the burn patterns on his hands and feet were highly consistent with someone bending over to ignite material with a handheld open flame.
The suspect, who admitted to smoking methamphetamine the night before the incident and has a criminal history involving reckless burning, was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on second-degree arson charges.
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