Downtown Olympia Hit By 3 Fires

OLYMPIA - Firefighters here battled three downtown fires in less than 12 hours - all within blocks of each other.

"All three are suspicious at this point . . . but it's too early to tell if they're related," Capt. Frank Spickelmire of the Olympia Fire Department said today.

No injuries were reported. Damages in the first two blazes total at least $162,500, Spickelmire said.

The first fire, around 8:20 p.m. yesterday in a seldom-used warehouse, also spread to a nearby lumber-sales office.

In a second fire, called in shortly after 11 p.m., a stack of wood pallets had been set afire next to a parked car and near a building. That fire was put out in about 15 minutes.

At around 3 a.m. today, firefighters were alerted to a third blaze at another abandoned building. Thirty people were evacuated from two nearby apartment buildings as firefighters battled the

flames.