Police Arrest Man They Claim Intentionally Sparked Wildfire Near Ellensburg

A Western Washington man has been arrested after police say he intentionally set a wildfire in Kittitas County on Friday (July 10) afternoon.

The Kittitas County Sheriff's Office says the blaze sparked at around 5:45 p.m. near Helen McCabe Park along State Route 821 at the mouth of the Yakima River Canyon.

Sheriff's officials say a witness called 9-1-1 to report seeing a man pull over in his vehicle and throw something that was on fire into a patch of dry grass prior to driving away from the scene.

The witness reportedly provided a description of the man and his vehicle, along with several characters from his license plates.

While fire crews responded to the blaze, investigators entered the suspect information provided by the witness into the state's Automated License Plate Reading system, also known as Flock.

Only seconds after providing the witness details, the Flock system identified a vehicle matching that of the suspect's which had been captured on video heading towards the scene of the fire before it broke out.

The Flock system also relayed that the same vehicle had been captured on surveillance cameras at a gas station in the Easton vicinity at around 7:35 p.m.

Sheriff's detectives confirmed the video sighting with an attendant at the gas station and, about an hour later, deputies tracked down the suspect in an undisclosed location and arrested him.

The 72-year-old Tacoma man is assumed to have been subsequently booked into the Kittitas County Jail, although a check of jail booking records did not find anyone matching his age and place of residence.

The Sheriff's Office says the man is now facing arson charges for allegedly starting the fire, which was quickly contained by firefighters.