Fire department waiting on lab

MOSES LAKE - A suspicious Moses Lake fire was started purposefully, according to the Moses Lake Fire Department.

Evidence from the Dec. 12 West Sandy Street fire was sent to the Washington State Patrol crime lab in Cheney earlier this month, Fire Chief Brett Bastian said. He hopes the crime lab will determine what was used to start the blaze.

He said the results from the evidence can take a few weeks to months to complete depending on the workload at the crime lab.

The fire was originally called suspicious because the house was vacant, there were footprints located in the snow leading to and away from the house and there was no furniture inside, Bastian said. The intensity of the flames sparked suspicion at the department because normally such intense flames are a result of burning furniture or other household items, but there were none.

The fire department was on scene shortly after midnight Dec. 12, and extinguished the fire approximately 15 minutes later.

The fire was called into emergency dispatch by a neighbor who saw the flames coming from the house. Several other occupied houses were in close proximity but weren't damaged.

The fire appeared to begin in the living room and spread extensive fire damage throughout the house.