Apartment fire leads to arrest, arson charge

Published 11:43 am Thursday, March 20, 2014

Sequim Gazette staff

A Sequim resident was arrested in connection with a fire that occurred on Friday, June 28, at apartments located at 720 E. Washington Place Road in Sequim.

Kristen G. Mills, a 50-year-old resident of Sequim, was arrested and charged with first-degree arson. She was placed in custody at the Clallam County Corrections Facility in Port Angeles.

On June 28 at about 3:02 p.m., Clallam County Fire District 3 and Sequim Police were dispatched to the report of smoke emanating from an apartment at 720 E. Washington Place, Sequim. Residents were evacuated from the complex and the fire was subsequently extinguished. There were no reported injuries at the scene.

Within minutes of the fire being extinguished, representatives from both fire and law enforcement agencies agreed that evidence at the scene indicated that the fire was a result of a suspected arson attempt.

At about 9:20 p.m. on Saturday, June 29, Sequim Police officers John Southard and Maris Turner received a call of a suspicious person in the area of storage units just east of the apartment complex. The person was identified as Mills and she was subsequently arrested.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms as well as deputies from the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office assisted with an investigation that lasted over seven hours.

The extent of the damage to the apartment complex is unknown at press time.