59-year-old Allan McCall was arrested Monday evening
VANCOUVER — A chaotic scene unfolded Monday afternoon in Vancouver’s Hough Neighborhood, involving a possible assault, an arson, and a potentially armed and barricaded subject.
Plus reports of at least one explosion.
Vancouver Police and Fire Department were both dispatched to the home at 1101 W. 19th Street just before 4:20 p.m.
“The house was fully involved when we got here,” said Vancouver Fire Department spokesman Bryan Fredrickson, “so we took a defensive measure and just kept our units back from that.”
Fredrickson says their defensive approach to the fire was at the request of Vancouver Police, who were concerned that an armed individual who had assaulted a neighbor following a dispute may have been inside the burning home after setting it on fire, and may have had a gun.
“Putting guys and gals in the middle of a scene that is this dynamic, there’s a lot of police running around, was kind of a safety factor for us,” said Fredrickson.
According to a release from Vancouver Police Department Monday evening, police SWAT officers were able to search the property after the flames died down a bit. They found 59-year-old Allan T. McCall hiding in the yard of the property, having somehow escaped the intense heat of the fire.
McCall was booked on one count of first degree assault. The arson investigation is continuing.
Several neighbors were temporarily evacuated during the fire and search of the property. It was unclear on Monday what led McCall to allegedly attack a neighbor with what witnesses described as a “big stick.”
