Vashon Lumberyard Suffers Fire Damage

VASHON ISLAND

King County arson investigators returned today to a Vashon Island lumberyard where a suspicious fire destroyed a warehouse and hundreds of board feet of rare, high-grade cedar late Saturday night and early yesterday morning.

No injuries were reported in the fire, but the loss was estimated at $200,000, a spokesman said early today. What appears to be two sources of ignition were found yesterday, the spokesman said. ``It will remain suspicious until we can rule those out.''

An office building for L.S. Cedar Co., along with stacks of what the investigator called ``beautifully clear tongue-and-groove cedar'' were hit by the flames.

The volunteer Vashon Fire Department ``did a heck of a job stopping the fire. It was still going Sunday morning. Someone loaned them a bulldozer so they could spread things and start pulling the piles of lumber apart. They managed to save a lot of the lumber,'' he said.

Loren Sinner, owner who started the business as a teen-ager, said he doesn't know why someone would have wanted to burn the company.

``It's almost impossible to imagine,'' he said. ``It just doesn't fit.''

Sinner said his insurance should cover the loss of the warehouse and lumber inside. He said the business would stay open through cleaning and rebuilding.