Burglar sets fire to Edmonds woman's condo

EDMONDS, Wash. — An Edmonds woman was sleeping when a burglar set her condo on fire early Friday morning, police said.

According to police, a person broke into the condo around 1 a.m. and stole a laptop, and lit hanging clothes on fire.

The sprinklers were set off and dropped hundreds of gallons of water, which caused major damage to the home.

Detectives are now trying to figure out who the burglar is and why the person would set the condo on fire.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Gary Horcher spoke with the victim’s daughter, who showed the damage that was done to her mother’s home.

“Tens of thousands of dollars (in damage),” said Carolyn Miller. “The blouse that was set on fire was hanging up on the door.”

Miller’s mother was too traumatized to talk on camera and Miller explained why.

“She’ll never be the same again because she’s going to have nightmares. It’s going to be a hard thing to recover (from),” Miller said. “She was woken up by a smoke alarm and the sound of water, and had to run out of her own home in the middle of the night in a bathrobe and bare feet. “

Police said the burglar chose not to steal a lot of valuable items.

“(A cabinet) was found open with both the doors opened, and antiques and silver, untouched,” Miller said.

However, the stolen laptop was filled with a lifetime of the owner’s poetry.

“It’s years of work, and it’s poetry so it’s all emotional, and heart-wrenching and it's a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Some of it has been published, some not. So yeah, that’s potentially all gone,” Miller said.

The condo’s owner said Edmonds detectives have been very thorough, but they have very little evidence.

Anyone with information about the burglary or fire is urged to call 911.

KIRO