from the press:
Seattle police and the Seattle Fire Department are investigating a suspicious fire at a Madison Park Bank of America branch early this morning.
Police responded around 2 a.m. to an alarm at the bank at 4112 E. Madison St. Officers found the bank’s outdoor ATM engulfed in flames and saw fire inside the bank, possibly originating from the ATM fire.
The Seattle Fire Department responded and put out the fire. The fire had spread into the bank and attic area, said Seattle Fire Department spokesman Kyle Moore. The fire took about 45 minutes to extinguish, he said.
The fire department brought in Henny, an accelerant-sniffing dog. “He hit on a couple of items and the ATM,” Moore said. “We’re taking those items to the crime lab to be tested for accelerants.”
Moore also said Seattle police would be trying to obtain surveillance tapes from the Bank of America and from nearby businesses to look for suspicious activity.
The Seattle police Arson/Bomb Squad is investigating. It appears there was no forced entry into the bank, police said. It was not immediately known if the ATM had been burglarized.
The bank branch has been boarded up and will not open today, Moore said.
