A 40-year-old Vancouver man has been arrested in connection with a Saturday fire at Shanahan’s Pub & Grill in downtown Vancouver.
Eugene Scott was booked into the Clark County Jail on suspicion of first-degree arson, according to a Vancouver Police Department news release.
Vancouver Fire Department crews were dispatched at 2:06 p.m. to 209 W. McLoughlin Blvd., for a report of a commercial structure fire.
The first engine arrived at the business within three minutes, department spokesman and firefighter Joe Hudson said Monday. By then, everyone inside the building had evacuated, he said.
There was no fire visible from the ground, but the original 911 caller told dispatchers that it was on the building’s roof, Hudson said. Firefighters climbed onto the roof and found smoldering materials. They used a fire extinguisher on the materials; no water was needed as the flames had mostly died out, according to the spokesman.
Deputy fire marshals and investigators from the police department’s Arson Unit subsequently responded and began looking into the cause. They confirmed that the fire was intentionally set by an unknown suspect, police said.
“Witnesses reported a male approaching the location carrying a ladder and a bucket; witnesses also observed a male with the same description running away from the scene minutes later around the time of the fire,” the news release says.
Investigators later identified Scott as a potential suspect. They served a search warrant at his residence Thursday. Further evidence of the arson was recovered during the search of his home, police said.
The news release did not provide any motive for the fire. The arson investigation is ongoing.
