SEATTLE — A fire reignited at the Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple on Tuesday, destroying what were described as irreplaceable documents and items belonging to a local Boys Scouts troop.
Tuesday's fire was initially reported as a new fire. However, it was determined to be a flare-up from an arson on New Year's Eve, according to Seattle Fire.
Seattle Fire received multiple calls about smoke coming from the temple in the 1400 block of South Main Street just before 2:30 p.m. They found smoke lingering on the first floor.
The fire originated from the basement and was extinguished by 3:30 p.m., according to Seattle Fire public information officer David Cuerpo.
People working in the temple were able to evacuate before Seattle Fire arrived and no one was injured.
A board member of the temple told KING 5 the arson destroyed many historical, and irreplaceable, archives documents that were not yet digitized. The flare-up on Jan. 2 likely caused further damage to the remaining archives, said Alex Sakamoto.
The Seattle Betsuin Buddhist Temple holds a lot of history. It was founded in 1901 and Boy Scout Troop 252 has been meeting there since 1939.
“Troop 252 is the last historically Japanese American troop in Seattle,” said Scoutmaster Rob Ketcherside.
The troop’s gear was kept in the basement, where the New Year's Eve fire started. All of the troop's gear was destroyed.
“Tents, stoves, tarps, we lost all of our pioneering rope. We lost freeze dried meals for backpacking, backpacking stoves, this all of our gear, it's all gone,” Ketcherside said.
Ketcherside is still assessing how much it will cost to replace everything, but the destruction comes ahead of two major outings planned in North Bend, one in February and another in March.
“I’m confident we can do the event. There's other troops around that have already stepped forward volunteered to lend their gear, which is fantastic. I didn’t even ask,” Ketcherside said.
Ketcherside said he is moved by the support especially from Troop 254, the last historically Chinese American troop in Seattle, but also says the need their own gear in the long term. A fundraiser has been created to help purchase new gear.
“There’s a lot of history here. There’s our history, the scouting history, there’s community history and we’ll continue to be here creating new history," he said. "We’re going to be really happy to get out on trails again, and camping again, as soon as possible."
New Year's Eve fire
On the night of Dec. 31, Seattle Fire responded to the temple for a fire. The fire was determined to be intentionally set, according to Seattle Fire.
According to Seattle police, a 42-year-old barricaded himself in the temple and allegedly started a fire.
He then fled the temple and broke into a house a few blocks down. He was later arrested on suspicion of second-degree arson and burglary. The man suffered minor injuries from breaking into the house, according to Seattle police. He's currently being held in King County Jail.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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