Blyn car dealership linked to methamphetamine burns down

A Blyn man was arrested for allegedly starting a fire within the Sellin’ Style car dealership at 251 Old Blyn Highway.

A Blyn man was arrested for allegedly starting a fire within the Sellin’ Style car dealership at 251 Old Blyn Highway.

Clallam County Fire District 3 reported to the fire at 10:22 p.m. Thursday, May 7, where they found the center section of the building in flames. However, they extinguished the fire before it spread through the rest of the building.

Clallam County Sheriff’s Office officials said deputies gathered witness information that one of the property’s residents, José Noe Torres, 57, was living in a travel trailer inside the building and allegedly started the fire on purpose.

Torres told witnesses that he was upset with the property’s landlord and “would burn everything down,” sheriff officials said.

The business previously was linked to a methamphetamine ring and its owner Timothy P. Smith, 31, of Sequim, was sentenced in April to 11 years in federal prison.

Upon further investigation, deputies with advanced specialty training in fire investigations obtained evidence corroborating the witness statement implicating Torres.

He is in the Clallam County Corrections Facility and is charged with second degree arson by the Clallam County Prosecutor’s Office. Torres appears in Clallam County Superior Court today, Wednesday, May 13, for a pre-disposition hearing.