By Ross A. Courtney
The Yakima Herald-Republic
SUNNYSIDE, Wash. — Investigations are continuing into separate, and apparently unrelated, arsons that heavily damaged an apartment building and blew up a small photo processing business.
Sunnyside firefighters have asked local police to take over the probe of who set a fire on a second story balcony at the Paragon Apartments that injured one woman when two families were forced to escape from windows.
Firefighters have also asked police to take over an investigation of the April 13 explosion at a photo processing business.
Sunnyside detectives have taken some pictures of the scenes and spoken to firefighters but have not received reports of the incidents from the fire department, said Charlotte Hinderlider, police spokeswoman.
Sue Ellen Medelez, who injured her back jumping from her window to escape the Paragon fire, was released Sunday from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle in satisfactory condition following surgery.
The blaze destroyed the four second-floor units of an eight-unit building while the downstairs apartments suffered water damage.
Firefighters found residue from a carbon-based accelerant, such as gasoline, on the balcony where the fire started. They will send samples to the state crime lab to determine more details, said Lloyd Hazzard, deputy fire chief.
The apartment building is about two blocks from an April 14 gang- related drive-by shooting attempt on South 13th Street for which police arrested five teenagers.
Also, firefighters have asked police to investigate the April 13 explosion at the Photo Express business on Yakima Valley Highway. Firefighters also found accelerant in that building and a place where the arsonist broke in.
The business is owned by Francisco Hernandez, who also owns Rico’s Tacos Guadalajara, a restaurant that was the site of a March 26 fatal shooting. Police are looking for five suspects in that incident.
Firefighters don’t suspect the two recent arsons are related, Hazzard said.
Before last month, the most recent Sunnyside arson case was in February 2009, when occupants of a 14th Street house put out flames in their bedroom and on their car in the driveway. Investigators suspected the blazes were gang related and set intentionally.
In Friday’s apartment fire, several neighbors and passers-by most likely saved lives with some quick-thinking heroics, witnesses said.
A couple of them banged on windows to wake sleeping victims. One fetched a ladder to allow Sunnyside police to rescue three occupants trapped in their second-story unit.
Jessica Alviso, 30, happened to be driving by after visiting family in the neighborhood when she saw the flames and heard Medelez yelling for help from her window. She caught Medelez’s children, a boy about 4 years old and a girl about 1.
Medelez then jumped but landed on her back instead of her feet, Alviso said.
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