The latest incident of a Pike/Pine poster fire has been determined by the Seattle Fire Department to have been set intentionally and is being investigated as an arson by the Seattle Police Department, CHS has learned.
The fire set to the poster display board at 11th and Pike was easily extinguished by firefighters who responded to calls reporting the flames and smoke just after 8 PM on Thursday, June 24, according to a SFD spokesperson.
The suspect who witnesses believe started the fire wasn’t exactly dressed for stealth. An SPD spokesperson tells CHS that witnesses reported seeing a white male, in his 20s and wearing a red polo and dark shorts. An area search turned up one man who fit the description reported by witnesses but officers determined the man had not been at the fire scene. Thanks to neighbor Joe for the tip.
A Pike/Pine poster man removes layers of old flyers
The incident is the latest in a string of poster charring in Pike/Pine. The most recent was this Thursday, June 3 incident in which a wooden, poster-laden utility pole was set aflame near the corner of Pine and Broadway next to the new Blick art store. Other incidents in the past year include this October late-night utility pole fire — the suspects were described as a man and a woman by witnesses — and another October fire set to a bulletin board inside the Odd Fellows building. In all, CHS is aware of five Pike/Pine poster fires since September.
The question in all of this is why are the fires being set. Is this some sort of vandalism? Maintenance of a sort by people involved with postering in the neighborhood? Manifestation of someone’s mental illness? Copycats of any of the above? We know the area is thick with posters — check out this picture post of a Pike/Pine poster man clearing a pole for his work. Without flame, of course. We also know from CHS comments that there are many who consider utility pole postering to be criminal vandalism itself. With this trend of flaming power poles — and the more disconcerting incident inside the historic Odd Fellows building — some alternative forms of cheap, urban advertising might not seem so bad.
But we don’t know how it fits together. And SPD investigators aren’t saying, yet, if they do. In the meantime, authorities are asking for help. “The most important thing people can do is call 911 immediately to report any suspicious activity,” SFD spokesperson Dana Vander Houwen said.
The new badlands. Pioneer Square is probably safe again, all the shenanigans moved up the hill.
All the poster trash needs to go in a really bad way. I’m not sure that setting the posters alight on the poles is the way to go about it though I don’t miss that the posters were barbecued.
Back in 2002, before the poster ban was overturned, there was some debate as to whether postering caused certain safety issues, and the pro-poster people asserted that this was a red herring. Well, guess what?…the numerous arson incidents are showing that posters in fact do constitute a safety problem.
Those of us who oppose all postering do so mainly because 1) they are a trashy and ugly scar on our streetscape; 2) they are ineffective in marketing events; 3) the postering regulations are widely ignored and un-enforceable. Now we can add the arson issue.
I think these facts argue in favor of re-instituting the poster ban, but unfortunately this is not likely to happen because City officials (City Council, Mayor, City Attorney) are too beholden to the “nightlife lobby” in Seattle.