Arson Detectives are investigating two fires set in the Interbay/Magnolia neighborhoods over the weekend.
Fire crews and police were first called to 43rd Avenue and W. Barrett Street at about 9:45 pm Saturday after someone set a fire in a portable toilet outside a vacant home.
The flames spread from the portable toilet to the vacant home—which is currently being renovated—causing $4,000 in damage.
Thirty minutes later, fire crews and police again responded to another fire set inside a construction site on 17th Avenue and W. Dravus Street, about two miles away from the scene of the first incident. The second fire caused $2,000 in damage to two portable toilets and a recycling bin at the construction site.
Witnesses told officers they saw two men climb a fence at the construction site just before the fire. The two men then fled the scene in a late 90s lowered black Honda Civic with tinted windows.
According to Arson/Bomb Squad Unit Sergeant Jim Hansen, recycling bins and portable toilets are popular target for vandals, but there are things you can do to protect yourself from a costly fire.
“Don’t store combustibles against your house,” Sgt. Hansen says, adding that if you see suspicious activity in your neighborhood, report it. “If you see something, say something,” Sgt. Hansen says.