Pasco Officials Concerned About Arsonist, on High Alert

It's not a crime that's very common in the region, but Pasco officials are now officially on the lookout for the person, or persons, responsible for a large number of fires.

  Although a truck sustained some front-end damage from a recent fire at 8th. and Octave, fortunately no people have been hurt or other property damage.

Pasco officials now say there is an arsonist at work in the city. Ben Shearer of the Pasco Fire Department says the official count is at least 20 fires that they've responded to that are of suspicious nature. While officials have not said they have any suspects or concrete leads, the nature of the fires has a pattern.

Fire Department investigators say the MO is clear.  They usually happen in groups of 2 or three, and happen within a short amount of time. Monday, one fire was set around 2:30am, then two with a half-hour of each other between 5-5:30am.  Officials think it could be a group or people, given the seemingly coordinated effort to trigger the fires.

Due to extremely dry conditions, officials worry the next one might get out of hand and injure people or destroy property.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the Arson hotline at 1-800-55-ARSON, or Tri-Cities Crime Stoppers at (509)-586-TIPS.