Pasco firefighters and police are investigating a suspicious fire that started Saturday morning in a storage lot for Griggs Department Store.
The fire involved old shelving made of plastic, wood and metal that had been moved to a fenced lot a block away from the hardware store at 719 W. Columbia St.
“There really wasn’t a whole lot of valuable stuff, just excess shelving they were no longer using,” said Battalion Chief Don Donais.
The emergency call came in about 9 a.m.
Donais said when the crew pulled out of their North Oregon Street station, they “could see a large column of black smoke” near the downtown business. They arrived to find 30 foot flames.