TACOMA, Wash. — A total of nine fires, eight of which are suspected arson, were set in Tacoma from the early hours of Sunday morning through Monday afternoon.
Neighbors fear a serial arsonist is responsible for damaging their homes and properties.
Two people were arrested in the first two fires: one was booked for arson for a fire on Sunday at 1 a.m. Near S. 11th St. and S L St, and an hour later, another man was arrested for reckless burning when Tacoma Fire responded to several small fires.
Sunday night is when the mystery began, starting with two fires at Rachel Affleje’s home at 19th St. and Sprague St. A third fire was started three blocks away on Wilkeson, between the time the two fires were set at Affleje’s home. Her security camera caught a man with a gas can walking by.
Monday morning, four fires were reported by Tacoma Fire and Tacoma Police, all within an hour of each other.
The locations were:
- 10:53 a.m. at S 19th St & Bridgeport Way
- 11:36 a.m. at S 12th St & S Woodlawn St
- 11:48 a.m. at Columbia Ave & Berkeley Ave
- 11:49 a.m. at S 18th St & S Woodlawn St
After finding a suspect with a similar description to what surveillance cameras and witnesses saw at these fires, Perry Clough was arrested and charged with one count of arson.
“I hope he is the one, the only one, who caused this. He very easily could have killed somebody,” Jon Straley said.
Straley’s home was damaged by 30 arborvitae trees that were set on fire. He was working in his office, and his wife, Paula, was resting on the other side of the wall that was burning.
“It was literally just a wave of flames by the time I came out,” Straley said.
In court, Clough was ordered to be held on $100,000 bail after prosecutors informed the judge that Clough had two previous reckless burning convictions in 2025 and 2026. The judge opined that this could show his behavior is escalating.
For Straley, the trees are more than just a barrier that gives him and his wife privacy from S 12th St. It was a connection to his father, who helped him plant the trees.
“My dad planted the first one, and he insisted on planting the first one,” Straley said, pointing to one of the charred trees. “I put a lot of work into planning these. I put a lot of work over the years in maintaining them, fertilizing them, watering them, making sure that they were healthy.”
About 12 minutes after Straley’s house was hit, Boston McConnell noticed a garbage man taking a fire extinguisher to his arborvitae trees. He ran to his garage to help.
“By the time it took me to get the fire extinguisher, three more of the trees were dead. It took seconds,” McConnell said.
At McConnells, the Straleys, and Affljes homes, the trees that are burning are all the same—arborvitaes. McConnell thinks the thin nettles dry out quickly when they detach, making them flammable.
“I don’t know what the purpose would be of burning our arborvitaes. Looks like there was an addendum against a certain type of tree rather than the people that live in the houses.” McConnell said.