Hairspray Arsonist

In early August 2025, a 44 year old female was arrested by the Spokane County Sheriff's Office for suspected arson after allegedly setting multiple brush fires along the Centennial Trail in Spokane Valley. During her arrest, investigators found a box of matches, pillow filling material, twigs and sticks, and a bottle of hairspray in her purse. A woman fitting her description was seen leaving the area of at least two fires. During the fire investigation, investigators found a burned match and unburned pillow filling at one fire.

While we do not have all the details of the investigation, we can speculate the ignition source for the fire was a wooden match. The other items found could have been used to assist in igniting a fire, although the first fuels ignited were likely dried grass. The burned match and unburned pillow filling provide a link between the fire and the suspect. Investigators hopefully conducted proper and thorough wildfire investigations on all of the fires. Based on these investigations, they likely could link the suspect to additional fires. All too often we see a disconnect between the criminal and fire investigations. Once a potential suspect is identified, investigators drop the ball and either do a poor job or don’t follow through with the fire investigations. Do not be that investigator. All fires need to be investigated regardless of whether a suspect has been identified no matter how much evidence might exists that they started the fire. Additionally, investigators should be looking at how many suspicious fires have there been in the area in the recent past? With this new information, can the suspect be linked to additional fires?