Man suspected of starting five fires last winter arrested

Police have arrested a man suspected of setting five fires in northwest Spokane early one morning last winter.

The man admitted setting two of the fires in the early morning hours of Feb. 22 but said he doesn’t remember setting the others, according to court documents.

Nathan T. Doering, 23, was arrested early Friday on a felony warrant for first-degree arson. A Spokane firefighter found an illuminated cellphone next to a fire hose at the scene of one of the fires at 2404 N. Columbus St. and turned it over to police. Investigators determined the phone belonged to Doering, according to court records.

The five fires were strung out over a mile and a half and all were reported between 2 and 2:30 a.m. Feb. 22. One was a vegetation fire in a yard that spread to a house, another consumed an outbuilding, a third was set in a couch next to a detached garage, the fourth involved garbage cans and the fifth was set in a bush.

The home on Columbus sustained minor damage. The fire that destroyed an outbuilding in the 2600 block of North Hogan Street also partially burned a car. Several of the fires were discovered by firefighters responding to the first reported fire on Columbus.

According to court documents, Doering said he was walking home from a bar that night. He reportedly admitted setting the first fire on Columbus and the fire to the bush in the 4100 block of North Pittsburg Street, which was only three blocks from his home, but said he couldn’t remember what happened in between. He described himself to investigators as a pyromaniac, according to court records.

Doering’s bail was set at $50,000 during a brief court appearance Friday afternoon. Doering is also being held on multiple misdemeanor charges, including domestic violence assault, domestic violence malicious mischief, interfering with the reporting of domestic violence and assault.