Investigators have determined that a fire late Monday at a commercial building downtown was arson.

Tacoma firefighters and police officers responded to the blaze at 1224 Tacoma Ave. S. on Monday night. The flames were contained to the outside of the two-story building, Tacoma police reported. The interior of the building sustained some smoke damage.

No one was inside the building at the time of the fire.

An investigator responded to the scene and determined the fire to be arson. The cause was unknown but no incendiary devices were found.

There were no suspects in the blaze, police reported.

The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department is releasing surveillance images of a woman they’d like to talk to as part of their investigation into arsons Wednesday night at two Spanaway stores.

Security cameras at Kmart captured the woman walking out a side door with a shopping cart full of merchandise after a fire erupted inside the store about 7:30 p.m., sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said.

She hid the cart in the alley. A short time later, another fire was started in the Dollar Store near the Kmart.

Sheriff’s deputies found the shopping cart and will be processing it as evidence, Troyer …

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Tacoma police have arrested a man suspected of setting fire to his girlfriend’s parents’ South Tacoma home last month.

Prosecutors on Wednesday charged James F. Patterson, 25, with first-degree arson, first-degree residential burglary and first-degree trafficking in stolen property. He was being held in Pierce County Jail on suspicion of $150,000 bail.

Flames burned the home in the 5600 block of South Verde Street the morning of Sept. 26. No one was inside at the time. Investigators discovered several starting points for the fire in the home.

Through the investigation, detectives discovered Patterson was living with the homeowners’ daughter. …

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Investigators are looking into a house fire early Sunday on the eastern shore of Lake Tapps that’s believed to be an arson.

No one was inside the home in the 4000 block of 218th Avenue East when the fire started. Firefighters were notified about 5:30 a.m. Sunday. Crews from East Pierce Fire & Rescue, Riverside Fire & Rescue, Valley Regional Fire, Milton Fire and Enumclaw battled the two-alarm fire, East Pierce Fire & Rescue reported.

Crews blocked off both lanes of 218th Avenue East for several hours while crews got the blaze under control.

Investigators with Pierce County and East …

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Puyallup police and Central Pierce Fire and Rescue are investigating two recent arsons at the former Pioneer Museum.

The first fire occurred June 27 at 4 a.m. on the 2100 block of 19^th Avenue SE, and the second took place Sunday a little before 2 a.m. in the same area. Both fires burned abandoned buildings formerly used for the Museum.

Investigators and firefighters are going door-to-door, dropping off flyers and talking with residents in hopes of getting information leading to an arrest. Puyallup police have increased patrols of the area and are encouraging residents to immediately report any suspicious or …

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Thomas John Eurell got mad when a Federal Way police officer gave him a traffic ticket a few months back.

Eurell, 29, decided to get even by setting a dozen fires in Tacoma, according to court documents.

“He explained that he set the fires to waste law enforcement’s time and money,” Pierce County deputy prosecutor Dawn Farina wrote in charging papers filed today.

Pierce County prosecutors charged Eurell with two counts of first-degree arson, 10 counts of second-degree arson and two counts of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant. A conviction for first-degree arson counts as …

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The suspect in a string of 13 arsons in Northeast Tacoma in May has been arrested.

Detectives brought in the man for questioning, and he admitted to lighting trees and landscaping bushes on fire in the area of 49^th Avenue Northeast and 32^nd Street Northeast, according to Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum.

The man, whose younger brother helped him in three of the blazes, told detectives that he set the fires because he was upset about a traffic ticket he received.

The suspect was booked into the Pierce County Jail today for second-degree arson, and his brother was booked into …

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Tacoma police are investigating an early morning possible attempted arson in the Northeast part of the city.

Officers were called to the 3700 block of 49th Avenue Northeast just after 1 a.m. today, police reported. Witnesses reported seeing a person trying to light a small tree on fire. Nothing was ever ignited, police spokesman Mark Fulghum said.

“There is no evidence or indication that anything was actually lit on the fire,” he added.

The suspect fled in an unknown direction. Officers set up containment and a police dog tried to look for the suspect. The suspect was not located.

Detectives …

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