Deadly New Year's Eve house fire in Tacoma ruled arson, being investigated as homicide
Suspected serial arsonist could be linked to deadly New Year's Eve fire
On New Year's Eve, an 83-year-old was killed when a fire broke out in his home. A woman charged for 18 arsons may be linked, court documents say.
TACOMA, Wash. - A New Year's Eve house fire in Tacoma that killed an 83-year-old man has been ruled an arson and Tacoma police are investigating it as a homicide.
On Dec. 31, 2021, crews responded to a report of a house fire on Rosemount Way and found a man dead inside.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office identified the man as James Elliott and his cause of death was ruled asphyxia due to inhalation of products of combustion. At the time, the fire's cause was determined to be electrical, but the cause remained under investigation.
On Tuesday, Tacoma police said the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ruled the fire as arson and they are now investigating his death as a homicide.
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Tacoma detectives looking into possible link between suspected serial arsonist, deadly NYE fire
A suspected serial arsonist in Tacoma is now charged with multiple counts of arson, burglary and identity theft - and investigators are looking into a possible link to a deadly fire on New Year's Eve.
Earlier this year, there was a string of fires over several days in Tacoma and police said they were suspicious at the time.
The fires were later deemed arson and Sarah Ramey, 42, was arrested in connection to the arsons. She was charged with multiple counts of arson, burglary and identity theft.
Detectives said they found a checkbook belonging to Elliott in Ramey’s truck. She had not officially been linked to the fire, but it did happen in the same area where the string of arsons happened.
Elliott had been in his home for over 50 years and just lost his wife a month before the fire.
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Tacoma police investigate more than a dozen suspected arsons this week
Since Tuesday evening, there have been more than a suspicious fires in Tacoma and Ruston, and police said they are investigating them as arsons.
"They just love this house so much. It was his pride and joy and my mom‘s too," said son Dan Elliott. "They’d just walk around the yard, just talk, hang out on the porch together, just swing and enjoy and to have this taken right out from underneath of them. He worked all of his life to enjoy the latter half of it, and as far as all that he’s accumulated and all that he’s worked for, just to be taken like that, it’s just horrific. No one deserves this. No one deserves this sort of thing to happen to them."
"There were several of us who, even that night, really wondered if it was arson. So we had concerns about that all along and I think the more arsons that we kept hearing about, the more concerned we became," said neighbor and close friend Kyna. "We’re feeling like, finally, some of the puzzle pieces are coming together, and the police and the fire department are hearing some of the things that we’ve noticed.