Man arrested in connection with Feb. 15 house fire in Shelton

A suspect deputies believe started a Shelton house fire and another intentional fire in Union is now in custody after Mason County sheriff’s deputies and Shelton police tracked them to the Shelton Inn.

People were told to avoid the area of Seventh Street and Railroad Avenue in downtown Shelton on Friday while police and Mason County deputies developed a plan to take the suspect into custody.

According to a news release sent at 12:22 p.m. from the Shelton Police Department, the suspect was at the Shelton Inn, refusing to leave their room. The man was in custody by 1:41 p.m., but police warned officers may be in the area for some time.

The suspect is believed to have intentionally set the house fire that happened Feb. 15 at 100 W. Pine Street, as well as another fire that units responded to later in Union. More than 20 people lived in the Shelton house that burned, and two had to be rescued from a balcony, but no one was injured.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Ty Vinson

The Olympian

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Ty Vinson covers the City of Olympia and keeps tabs on Tumwater and other communities in Thurston County. He joined The Olympian in 2021. Before that, he earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism at Indiana University. In college, he worked as an intern at the Northwest Indiana Times, the Oregonian and the Arizona Republic as a Pulliam Fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription