Nine fires reported on Washington State campus, two arrested

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Story Published: Apr 21, 2008 at 3:57 PM PDT

By Associated Press

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) - Nine fires were set on the Washington State University campus within slightly more than an hour early Monday, and two men seen running from one of the fires have been arrested, police said.

A 21- and 18-year-old man were in custody, and both are students at the school, campus Police Chief Bill Gardner said. The motive was unclear but "there's some indication that intoxication was involved," he added in a telephone interview.

The first fire was reported at 12:41 a.m. in a trash can outside a dormitory in the Stephenson complex. The next was in a trash can at 1 a.m. in a parking garage by the fine arts museum, followed by a couple of burning juniper bushes outside Abelson Hall.

Firefighters were then notified of a burning bulletin board on the second floor of the Stephenson East tower, municipal Fire Capt. Scott Van Ness said.

"While the crew was en route on foot into that building, they discovered a larger fire in the main entrance lobby," Van Ness said, "so they went in and put that one out while a second crew went in and checked on the east tower."

Investigators also discovered small fires had been set in stairways in the museum parking garage and in the dorm complex and in a trash bin outside Kimbrough Hall, the music building, Gardner said.

No injuries were reported, but the Stephenson complex was evacuated as a precaution.

The worst damage was a scorched 6- to 8-foot section of wall where a newspaper display was set ablaze near the Stephenson entrance, Gardner said.

In a telephone interview, Pullman police Officer Reuben Harris said he saw two men running from the area after the tree fire outside Abelson and caught one of them, using a stun gun to take a 21-year-old man into custody. The man later confessed to setting all of the fires, Harris said, including several that were discovered after he was caught.

Miner identified the other man who fled, and that person was caught later Monday afternoon by campus police, who were in charge of the investigation. Police say both will face arson charges.

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