Homeless man attempts to burn down hotel used as Seattle shelterhttps://thepostmillennial.com/homeless-man-attempts-to-burn-down-hotel-used-as-seattle-shelterA 46-year-old man was arrested and accused of arson after attempting to burn down the Red Lion Hotel in Renton, according to the Renton Police Department. The hotel has become a flashpoint for controversy after the hotel was turned into a homeless shelter for more than 200 people in April.
The shelter was specifically for those with substance abuse problems as well as mental illness, and was intended to reduce capacity at Seattle shelters in an effort to protect people from the spread of COVID-19.
Renton firefighter crews responded to the Red Lion Hotel on South Grady Way just after noon on Wednesday to a fire on the sixth floor after a couch was set aflame in a room. Firefighters said that a sprinkler system helped to contain the flames. Six rooms were damaged by water, fire and smoke on the 5th and 6th floors. All 200 people in the building were evacuated, and no injuries were reported.
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The fire comes just days after Renton officials brought forward legislation that would set a six month move out date at the Red Lion Hotel. Since that facility, along with two others in King County, were opened to the homeless in April, firefighters and medics have been called to the Red Lion 277 times.
Municipal officials say that the hotel has led to an increase in crime in the area. Renton police reported a dramatic increase in calls to the hotel. According to the Associated Press at a Renton City Council meeting Monday, the mayor and council members heard almost an hour of testimony from the community about an emergency ordinance to rewrite Renton zoning code to restrict homeless shelters' placement and operations.
I realize that empty rooms are a dead loss for Red Lion, but what moron could not foresee this possibility, in addition to many rooms being trashed? Maybe a dead loss would have been less of a loss.
