A 53-year-old homeless woman said she set eight Spokane-area fires last week because she was frustrated over the region's housing crisis.
Vickie L. Smith was arrested Thursday in Tukwila, Washington, on suspicion of three counts of first-degree arson and is awaiting transfer to Spokane.
On Aug. 3, three fires in the West Hills area spurred evacuations and required significant air resources to be extinguished. Fire crews also extinguished five small fires in Dishman Hills.
Cynthia Miraglia, who lives on the Indian Canyon Golf Course, had just returned home after being evacuated when a Spokane Fire employee asked her to be on the lookout for anyone coming off of the golf course, she told The Spokesman-Review
Minutes later, Miraglia spotted Smith.
"I looked over, and not 10 feet from my fence, there was someone crouched in the brush," Miraglia said.
She saw Smith bend down and then a flicker of a lighter or match, Miraglia told police.
Smith told her she was hiding there to smoke marijuana because she lived at the Catalyst Project, a nearby shelter with wraparound services. If caught doing drugs near the shelter, Smith said she could get in trouble.
Miraglia told Smith she was trespassing before walking her out of her yard and calling 911. She then walked Smith out of the neighborhood.
On the walk, Smith told Miraglia she was frustrated with the Catalyst program because they didn't feed her, among other things. The Catalyst program does offer food, according to employees.
Miraglia snapped photos of Smith as she walked her out of the neighborhood.
About 10 minutes after the first 911 call, Miraglia called again, but dispatchers told her Smith didn't fit the description of the individual they were seeking, Miraglia said.
After about 30 minutes, she left Smith, who was walking toward Sunset Grocery.
"I called 911. I thought they would come," Miraglia said. "It's been frustrating."
Officers did respond to her house about an hour after Miraglia spotted Smith, she said.
As crews continued to deal with the fires near Finch Arboretum and at Dishman Hills in Spokane Valley, graffiti was discovered in downtown Spokane alluding to arson.
One message under the Lincoln Street railroad viaduct read, "Burn Spokane Down 8/3/23 — $900 million We not Housed Burn Spokane."
Similar graffiti was located on the Washington Trust Bank building at 706 W. 2nd Ave. Officers reviewed surveillance video footage that showed a woman writing the graffiti.
Just after midnight, Smith was confronted by police during a trespassing investigation at another Washington Trust Bank, 27 E. Indiana Ave.
When police arrived, Smith asked repeatedly whether she was being arrested for lighting the fires. She told officers she lit the fires to get housing after 12 years of being homeless.
Smith said the housing crisis in Spokane was unfair and demanded officers give her somewhere to live, according to court documents. She said she was no longer lighting fires because it wasn't Aug. 3 anymore.
Officers documented Smith's statements but did not arrest her. Smith was captured on officer's body cameras.
The woman doing graffiti downtown visually matched Miraglia's photos and police body camera footage, according to court documents.
Officers obtained an email address linked to Smith and messaged her. They received a response detailing how the writer had set eight fires in the area, five in Dishman Hills and three near Sunset Hill, according to court documents.
She also wrote that God told her to light the fires, then leave. She mentioned a woman confronting her as well — all details police indicated only the arsonist would know.
She then said she was currently in the Seattle area.
