Arson suspicion grows stronger in Winthrop hotel fire

A Mercer Island woman under investigation in a fire that burned two Winthrop hotels might be charged with arson, an Okanogan County prosecutor said.

Sheriff Mike Murray said there was evidence that an accelerant was used in the fire, and Deputy Prosecutor Aaron Walls said sheriff's detectives had told him the same thing.

Walls said he is waiting until he receives the state fire marshal's report before deciding what charges to file today.

The 35-year-old woman is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail at the Okanogan County Jail for investigation of first-degree reckless burning, first-degree malicious mischief and third-degree assault.

"They're looking for a scapegoat," said her father, of Mercer Island.

He said his daughter left one candle burning on her bedside table in her room at the Riverside Lodge when she went into the bathroom Friday night. When she came out, the room was on fire, he said.

The fire spread from the nine-room Riverside Lodge to the 16-room Hotel Rio Vista, both in downtown Winthrop, an Old West-theme town in the Methow Valley of north-central Washington.

Dale Fasse, owner of the Riverside Lodge, estimated damage to both buildings at $1.5 million. Several cars parked near the hotels also burned.

"An accident is an accident, and it was a total accident," said the woman's boyfriend, of Everett.

He said his girlfriend was in Winthrop for two days, and like other guests at the two hotels, she lost everything she had brought with her in the fire, including her car and her clothes.

"She didn't even have her shoes," he said.

Walls said the woman attempted to run when officers were placing her under arrest and kicked one officer in the knee and tried to flee again after she was handcuffed.