Ugly Duck owner suspects arson

John Davis trudged over the splintered wood floor, past scorched doors and cabinets, the evidence of the July 10 fire that gutted his business, The Ugly Duck.

“It’s so depressing because it never ends,” he said Wednesday. “If I wouldn’t have had insurance, we’re talking about a whole lifetime of work down the drain.”

In the back corner of the West Central building, the ground is littered with charred remains of cultured marble sinks. Davis is certain the fire started there.

Two weeks ago, the Spokane Fire Department determined that the fire, the seventh one to hit the business since it opened in 1992, began with burning debris, grass and weeds in an alley east of the building.

“Look,” Davis says, pointing at the alley. “It’s green grass!”

Davis believes someone used an incendiary agent of “pretty intense power.” With several employees manning 13 fire extinguishers, the blaze roared on.

“This is the seventh fire,” he said. “All of them by somebody that gets their jollies setting fires I guess. It’s a pervert that does that. It’s not a normal, civilized human being.”

Davis said the business has been hit in four spots in front, two on the side and now one on the back.

“I think he wants to hit us from all sides,” he said.

Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams said the cause may remain unknown, but the department tries to rule out all natural causes before they deem anything is suspicious or arson.

“We feel certain the fire started in the grass and spread from there,” Williams said. “We don’t have any witnesses (of arson).”

Aside from refuting the fire’s origin and cause, Davis also criticizes the department’s response time and actions the day of the fire.

The department took nearly 20 minutes before starting work on the fire, and crews refused to drive down the alley, “the only way in here,” according to Davis.

“If they had just come down the alley, all they had to do was pull 30 or 40 feet of hose and squirted this with foam and that would have been the end of the fire,” he said. “Instead, it’s $2 million worth of damage.”

Williams said driving down the alley, with numerous electrical wires overhead, could have injured or killed a firefighter riding on an apparatus.

Nancy Santschi-Apodaca, Davis’ business partner, said she also noticed little urgency in the department’s actions that day.

“I’ll forgive them, but I haven’t gotten to that point yet,” she said.

Williams says his crews did what they’re supposed to.

“Folks don’t necessarily understand that we have to put together a plan,” he said. “We’re not just going to rush into a building until we know exactly what is going on.”

Davis believes the fire department’s delay and refusal to come down the alley allowed a bad fire to grow worse.

“In 15 years we’ve paid close to $250,000 (in property taxes) toward the fire department’s equipment and they won’t even come down the stupid alley to defend us,” he said.

Wiring has been ripped out of the ceiling. Electricity repairs: $60,000. Renting tents to store displays and merchandise: $6,500 a month. Permit for the tents: $60.

“The insurance company is saying, ‘Well the fire department is saying it’s your fault so we’re canceling you,’ ” Davis said. “They’re saying it’s our fault because we didn’t put it out. But since it’s arson, it’s not our fault. We didn’t do it.”

Fortunately, Davis said, their fiery history hasn’t threatened the closure of their business.

“Spokane’s been really good to us,” he said.

Davis is hoping the damage will be cleaned up within three weeks. Changes will be made, including a concrete deck, remodeled showroom and perhaps a new moniker.

“Everybody says we should change our name to The Roasted Duck,” he said with a chuckle.