Man admits to starting fire that spread to grandma's home: Seattle police

Man admits to starting fire that spread to grandma's home: police

A man allegedly set fire to his travel trailer, which spread to his grandmother's home in Wallingford, displacing three people.

SEATTLE - Investigators say a man's fentanyl addiction may have prompted him to set a fire in a travel trailer that burned his family's home next door.

The fire happened on Ashworth Avenue North in Wallingford, just before 10 p.m. Sunday.

The travel trailer where investigators say the fire was first set is completely melted. Neighbors say it went up fast and spread quickly. 

Police say a 44-year-old man admitted to setting the fire in his trailer before it jumped to his grandmother's home, which sits just inches away from where he was parked.  

"They upgraded it to a 211 quickly and it took about 45 minutes to be fully extinguished," said Hilton Almond, firefighter and public information officer for the Seattle Fire Department. 

Neighbors like Gerardo Pena were shocked to see how much damage had been done to the home next to the trailer.

"It was way more substantial than what I was suspecting," Pena said.

The backstory:

Police reports state that the suspect told two different stories to officers.  First, they say he told them that he was a "packrat" and that the fire had started accidentally inside the trailer. The report states that the man claimed "he had been using an electric hotplate attached to an extension cord to keep warm."  

Later, officers say he told them unprompted that, "he had intentionally set the fire in an attempt to kill himself because he was addicted to Fentanyl."  

He told officers, "he had poured sanitizer into a garbage bag containing trash, then used a torch lighter to set it on fire while he was still inside the trailer." 

"That’s scary. You hate to see that kind of activity where people are kind of making choices like that," said Pena.

With so many homes built very close together on the block, Pena feels it could have spread even further without the quick response from firefighters.

"Very scary. Densely populated, popular neighborhood, apartments, condos, everything, so I’m glad nobody got hurt," said Pena.

Neighbors say they saw the suspect's grandmother escape the home OK. The Red Cross says that there were a total of three people who were displaced.

The suspect is expected in court Tuesday afternoon.

MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE

Wind, rain causes power outages across Puget Sound region

Deputies investigate deadly shooting in Shoreline, WA

Here’s how much a Walmart Thanksgiving meal will cost this year

Metro stabbing in Seattle leaves 1 person injured

No SNAP benefits to be issued in November, USDA confirms

Fallen tree causes deadly 'mass incident' at Halloween event near Roy, WA

Here are WA’s top ski areas for value this ski season, study says

To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.

Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.