By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Damage visible to the front and side of the house. (Photo provided by Frederick Yee)
A 45-year-old man with a history of schizophrenia was arrested on March 5 for suspicion of setting his Beacon Hill apartment on fire. The building on the 5300 block of 12th Ave S is owned by the Yee Fung Toy Family Association.
The man had just returned home from being involuntarily committed to a hospital after destroying his apartment with a hammer earlier that morning, according to Seattle police.
The man returned home about 1:30 p.m. that afternoon. And after about 10 minutes alone in his apartment, neighbors told police that flames emanated from his unit. Residents had to evacuate.
The Seattle Fire Department extinguished the fire and no one was injured.
The man denied setting the fire, but the fire investigator determined the blaze was intentionally set on a mattress in his unit and police found two cigarette lighters in his pocket.
The man told police he had been hearing voices in his head for six to seven years and that the voices led him to take a hammer to his apartment earlier that morning.