Blackstock Arson To Get TV Exposure -- 2 Men Linked To Fire That Killed 1 In 1989

Fire investigators hope a popular television mystery show will help them find two men wanted for questioning about the fire that destroyed the Blackstock Lumber Co. and killed Seattle Fire Department Lt. Matthew Johnson in 1989.

Tentatively scheduled for Sept. 30, a segment of NBC's "Unsolved Mysteries" will key on composite sketches of two men seen leaving the Blackstock building on Elliott Avenue West minutes before fire erupted.

The Blackstock is one of 13 buildings, including two others in Seattle, believed to have been destroyed by hired "torches" using chemicals similar to rocket fuel.

The Blackstock property was vacant and condemned.

A motorist saw one of the men in the composites driving a shiny beige Mercedes Benz sedan on Elliott Avenue.

The car was parked in front of the Blackstock building a few minutes before the fire was reported.

The motorist said the sedan turned left across Elliott and drove east up a side street toward Queen Anne Avenue.

The motorist described the man as being in his mid-30s to early 40s with light-colored hair and a beard.

The second man was about the same age, according to a woman who had parked her car on West Thomas Street near Elliott Avenue.

He emerged from brush near the railroad tracks about two blocks south of the Blackstock building and walked toward Elliott, close to the woman's car.

She told investigators the man wore a bomber jacket with the sleeves rolled up, a white sweat shirt, stone-washed jeans, ostrich or snake boots and gold jewelry.

The man appeared to have a very athletic build of about 6 feet and 165 pounds.

He had neatly trimmed dark hair and a tan complexion.

The man walked across Elliott and up the hill toward Queen Anne about ten minutes after the Mercedes traveled in that direction, the woman said.

She did not see the sedan. By this time the Blackstock was fully ablaze.

Seattle Fire Marshal Scott McEwen said the two men "depicted in the composites are persons of interest in the Blackstock fire.

"I don't think you can at this time call them suspects or even possible suspects," McEwen added.

The composites were prepared and released by the National Crime Insurance Bureau.

In addition to the Blackstock fire, investigators believe arson at the Carpet Exchange on First Avenue South in January 1984 is part of a nationwide string of arsons referred to as "HTA fires" for the high-temperature accelerants used to ignite them.

One of the other arsons killed a Spokane firefighter when the roof of a warehouse collapsed. Investigators say the total loss from the fires could top $20 million.

Investigators say inexpensive, delayed-ignition timers, possibly of military origin, are used to ignite the chemicals. Some have been ignited in second and third locations after firefighters entered the buildings to battle flames. Some of the larger arsons may have required a ton of the chemicals, according to investigators.

The chemicals burn at 6,000 to 7,000 degrees and slice through iron and steel, melting the metal like candle wax. In some fires the flames burned holes through concrete floors 18 inches thick.

Seattle fire investigators, who first detected the string of arsons, have been swamped by requests for copies of a training video and technical booklet describing the HTA fires.

"We are going to have to sit down and look at all of this because it is taking an enormous amount of time," McEwen said.