Fire at Boys and Girls Club believed to be arson

LAKE STEVENS, Wash. — It will cost at least $100,000 and take months of work to repair the damage done by Monday's fire at a Snohomish County Boys and Girls Club, which investigators say was likely arson.

This is the same Lake Stevens club that received a half million dollars from Lake Stevens native and actor Chris Pratt in 2016. His donation went to the teen center, which was not damaged, but the 7,000 square-foot gym is essentially ruined.

Parent Edward Laws moved his family from Los Angeles to Lake Stevens for "clean air, slower pace of life, natural beauty all around."

So it was a rude awakening when someone decided to pollute the air, upset the peace and disturb the beauty.

"This is tragic," he said, looking at the damage to the Boys and Girls Club his kids often use.  The fire there shut down the club, displacing 200 kids.

Cellphone video shows just how quickly that fire spread; what started in two port-a-potties against the concrete exterior wall of the gym moved into the eaves, setting off the sprinkler system, flooding the gym and sending smoke through the entire building.

The cost to repair the warped floors alone will be at least $100,000.

Officials say the evidence points to arson.

"Port-a-potties don't spontaneously combust," explained Lake Stevens Fire Marshal Dave Petersen.

Petersen says he — along with the Lake Stevens Police Department are investigating — and have made significant headway in less than 24 hours.
 
"They have some possible leads and possible suspect," he said, but they're asking more witnesses to come forward.

Laws is still trying to wrap his mind around the motive— this place is beloved. He hand-picked Lake Stevens because of places like the Boys and Girls Club.

"It just makes me want to cry, they're doing all this for the community," Laws said.

The club is going to reopen at 6 a.m. Wednesday for all 200 kids but they will be restricted to the front of the building so it will be a tight squeeze.