Man accused of setting Chief Garry Park home on fire during argument with woman
A 42-year-old man is accused of setting a fire that killed two dogs in a Chief Garry Park home before unsuccessfully trying to provoke police officers to shoot him Wednesday night.
Rodney Barnhill was arrested on suspicion of first-degree arson and a court order violation, according to a Spokane police news release.
Officers responded at about 9:50 p.m. to the house fire at 2627 E. Desmet Ave., police said. The structure was engulfed in flames.
A woman told a Spokane Fire Department investigator she and Barnhill were arguing in the downstairs bedroom when Barnhill lit a butane torch and set fire to a mattress, according to court documents. She said he tried to extinguish the fire with a cup of water, but the flames spread throughout the house.
The woman said Barnhill fled, and she ran upstairs to warn her mother about the fire, according to documents. The woman’s mother told police a total of four people were in the house when the fire started.
Police said in the release no one was injured. The fire department said in a release two dogs were killed and another was taken to an emergency veterinarian clinic.
Police were notified Barnhill was reportedly hiding with two dogs behind a dumpster at Hai’s Mini Market, less than a mile away on Mission Avenue, documents say. Police found him hiding under a car in a garage on Sharp Avenue a short walk from the market.
The police release said Barnhill was uncooperative with officers and, at one point, held a knife to his neck threatening to hurt himself. Barnhill also made statements to get officers to shoot him.
Officers negotiated with Barnhill for more than a half-hour before he was arrested.
Police found a small torch and a lighter in Barnhill’s pockets, documents say.
Barnhill told police he and the woman got into an argument in the home when he lit the torch. He said the torch fell on the bed and the bedding caught fire.
He said he tried to put out the fire, and he fled because he did not want to get arrested for the no-contact order violation with the woman, court records show.
The fire department estimated damages to the home at more than $200,000. The American Red Cross was called to provide temporary housing for three adults.
Barnhill made his first appearance in Spokane County Superior Court Thursday and is set for an arraignment Feb. 6.
Barnhill also faces assault, harassment and malicious mischief charges from over the summer when he allegedly choked the woman from the argument, sent her threatening text messages, damaged the Desmet Avenue residence with a baseball bat and threatened to burn the house down.