Transient Arrested In Blaze At Shelter

A man described by police as an apparent transient has been arrested for investigation of a fire that burned a shelter for homeless men.

Michael Lee Cox, 40, sought entry to Share House on Dec. 15, the day the fire was set, but police were summoned to remove him because he appeared to be drunk.

“He’s been our focus all the time, right from the get-go,” police Capt. Mark Irwin said.

Cox was arrested without incident Friday at a grocery store and was jailed for investigation of first-degree arson pending a hearing today in Clark County Superior Court.

None of the 42 Share House occupants was hurt in the fire, but the back of the 109-year-old boarding house was gutted.

“There’s been no place for homeless men to be in Vancouver since Share House burned down,” said Diane Christie, administrator of Share Inc. “They’re going to other communities or they’re staying in the parks, that sort of thing.”

Christie said work on a temporary replacement shelter with 35 to 40 beds at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center should be finished in four to six weeks.