Spokane police arrest man accused of setting fires along Fish Lake Trail

Spokane police arrested a 51-year-old man accused of setting fires on Sunday along the Fish Lake Trail in southwest Spokane.

Firefighters were called to an area near 16th Avenue between the trail and U.S. Highway 195 about 3:30 p.m. Sunday after an off-duty police officer spotted the fires, Spokane police said in a news release.

Crews from the Spokane Fire Department and the state Department of Natural Resources responded and quickly stopped the fires, and evacuations were not required, police said.

Police created a perimeter and detained three suspects. Arson investigators determined that one of those detained, a 51-year-old man who is homeless and has been living in the woods near where the fires were set, was responsible, police said.

Some nearby residents assisted the investigation by providing surveillance video, police said.

The man accused of setting the fires was booked into the Spokane County Jail on a charge of second-degree arson.