SPOKANE, Wash. — A Spokane woman who previously admitted to setting fires in Spokane's West Hills neighborhood now says those weren't the only blazes she started on the same day.
Vickie Smith has been in the Spokane County Jail since August 15 after she was arrested five days prior in Tukwila and extradited. She was originally charged with three counts of first-degree arson for lighting fires on August 3 near Finch Arboretum and Indian Canyon Golf Course.
Updated court records are revealing Smith told investigators she set even more fires that day in Spokane Valley. An affidavit says Smith told a Spokane detective she wrote graffiti downtown, threatening to burn Spokane down. She said her message was about money spent on homelessness and no one being housed.
Smith also admitted to lighting eight fires total, including five in Spokane Valley's Dishman Hills Natural Area, "at the direction of God."
Fire investigators and law enforcement write Smith directed them to where she started each fire, and those spots matched where arson investigators believed the fires originated.
The detective writes in court records Smith explained God told her to start the blazes to get across her message disabled people, like her, were unable to get housing. She called the fires "retaliation to the people of Spokane" who wouldn't help her.
Smith told the detective the fires in Dishman Hills were pre-planned, according to the affidavit. She told him she used forest debris to build a location for each one the day prior, then returned August 3 and used a paper towel and lighter to start them.
The detective recommended the five additional charges to the Spokane County prosecutor based on Smith's admissions, her directing investigators to where she started the fires, and previous statements she made about starting the fires during questioning hours after they began. Those comments were captured on Spokane Police officers' body cameras.
Spokane Police tell KREM 2 these new charges are for second-degree arson, unlike the original three first-degree counts. The fires near Finch Arboretum caused Level 3 - Go Now evacuations and threatened people and homes; SPD says because of the higher potential severity of those fires, the charges are upgraded.
No one was hurt and no homes were lost in either fire. A total estimate for damages and the cost of responding to both fires was not readily available Wednesday.
Smith's trial is now set for November 13.
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