Bellingham police arrest man suspected of arson at homeless camp outside library
Police have arrested the man they suspect last week started a fire at a homeless encampment outside the Bellingham Public Library that caused two propane tanks to explode.
Bellingham police booked Robert Alan Cisar, 54, into Whatcom County Jail Thursday, Dec. 10, on suspicion of first-degree arson, and jail records show he is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Bellingham Fire and Police responded at approximately 12:49 p.m. Dec. 5 to what the north lawn of the library for the report of a fire and several loud explosions, Police Lt. Claudia Murphy told The Bellingham Herald in an email. When officers arrived, they found the area that formerly had a fountain on it engulfed in flames.
Fire crews arrived and began to put the fire out, as police began to investigate what happened, and Murphy said many witnesses reported that a man named “Robert” had propane tanks in his tent.
Officers viewed video of the fire, and it showed Cisar leave his tent at approximately 12:44 p.m. and that smoke began billowing from his tent and flames became visible approximately two minutes later, Murphy reported. Cisar reportedly watched the fire and then picked up what appeared to be a downed tent and threw it on top of the flames.
At approximately 12:48 p.m., there was a flash when one of the 4.5-gallon propane tanks in Cisar’s tent exploded, according to Murphy, and a second tank exploded shortly afterwards.
Two men were seen running to pull Cisar away from the fire, Murphy reported, and he was last seen running east away from the library.
Officers spotted Cisar at approximately 12:30 p.m. Thursday in the 1500 block of Cornwall Avenue and took him into custody without incident.
Social media reports at the time said nobody was injured in the fire or by the explosions, but Whatcom County Superior Court documents state that the library was open at the time and people were inside.
Known as Camp 210, the camp was set up outside Bellingham City Hall in November for people protesting a lack of homeless shelter space in the area.
