Mayhem in Shelton

A suspected arsonist who authorities believe started two structure fires in the county last week was arrested after a standoff with police Friday at the Shelton Inn in downtown Shelton.

The suspect, Alexander Hoyle, 37, allegedly started fires at Gethsemane Ministries properties on West Pine Street in Shelton and East Misty Acres Road near Union.

The fires occurred in the early morning on Feb. 15 and Friday, respectively.

Hoyle was taken into custody and booked into Mason County Jail. He is charged with two counts of arson - a class A felony. Hoyle is also charged with four other felonies: assault, automobile theft, a weapons offense and intimidation.

"As you can imagine, we're still in a state of shock more than anything else," Gethsemane Ministries Pastor and Director Brian Hellenthal told the Journal. "Our reaction is to try to adapt and overcome. We know that we're still going to be ministering in the community, there seems to be large-scale support. We'll continue our outreach and we'll continue our recovery and discipleship program."

The Feb. 15 fire is still being investigated, according to Central Mason Fire & EMS Battalion Chief KC Whitehouse. CMFE received the call around 2:30 a.m. and was able to save some of the building because firefighters got to the fire within three minutes.

"That's fortunate ... there were two people on the balcony, and we were able to get there quickly and get the rescue initiated and crews were able to knock the fire down quickly," Whitehouse said.

The structure's front, siding and roof were damaged, but Whitehouse said that since it was "an old, sturdy building," there's a good chance it can be repaired. He said crews were able to salvage a lot of the contents for residents.

Two people were trapped on a second-floor balcony when crews arrived, but firefighters went around the back and were able to save both people. None of the 22 men in the building were harmed in the Wednesday fire.

According to court documents, at 4:14 a.m. on Feb. 17, MACECOM received several calls about a two-story building in Union that was on fire. All 24 men being housed in the building escaped uninjured.

The source of the fire was suspicious and investigators from the Fire Marshal's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were summoned to investigate the scene, according to the court documents. Investigators determined it was intentionally set. Preliminary tests were positive for the presence of accelerants spread along the front of the building.

Detectives checked Hoyle's background and confirmed a felony warrant out of Clackamas, Oregon, for larceny, according to court documents. Detectives found he was staying at the Shelton Inn on North 7th Street and West Railroad Avenue.

The manager of the Shelton Inn went and spoke with Hoyle and confirmed he was in room No. 50.

Law enforcement knocked on the door and identified themselves, according to court papers. Hoyle yelled that he would not come out and was heard fortifying the door by drilling screws into the door and jamb.

A Mason County Sheriff's Office negotiator called Hoyle, who told the negotiator he had a loaded 12-gauge shotgun in the room and he would shoot any officer who attempted to take him into custody, according to court documents. The SWAT team arrived and the hotel and Blondie's restaurant were evacuated before Hoyle surrendered.

"We did a fantastic job," MCSO Chief Deputy of Operations Jason Dracobly told the Journal. "We were able to get the individual in custody. Everything went well. A big thank you to the fire department and the City of Shelton for assisting with it."

Detectives received a search warrant and found a 12-gauge flare gun loaded with 12-gauge buckshot and additional rounds in the room.

According to court documents, Hoyle admitted using a 55-gallon plastic garbage can and filling it with 11 gallons of gasoline that he purchased at a gas station in Shelton in the early morning. He then stole a truck from downtown Shelton and used the truck to go to the Gethsemane Ministries building in Union, backed the truck up to the front of the building and "utilized a contraption he had fashioned from PVC pipes, a metal ball valve, rubber hoses, a metal bar and rope to empty much of the contents of the garbage can onto the front porch of the lodge. Hoyle claimed he then used a road flare to ignite the gasoline prior to driving away."

Hoyle claimed, according to court documents, he dumped the garbage can and remaining contents on a Green Diamond logging road between the building and downtown, which detectives later found in the area Hoyle described.

"Obviously, he was trying to kill people. There were 22 men in the Pine Street house that he burned out," Hellenthal said. "When we moved them out to Union to the property out here and tried to recover from the in-town fire, he came out here and burned this place."

He said he doesn't know why Hoyle targeted Gethsemane Ministries.

"The same person over Christmas broke into one of the houses here on camp and so we had him arrested and removed by the police," Hellenthal said. "And then he was released and then he showed up at the Pine Street house a couple of weeks ago and was threatening the house leader and some of the guys. Some of the guys held him until police came and they arrested him again. And then they released him and within a couple of weeks, he came back and burned the place. (We) don't really understand why. He really had no connection to the ministry at all that we're aware of."

According to the court documents, Hoyle was a previous tenant at Gethsemane Ministries and lived at the 220 E. Misty Acres Lane building near Union. When speaking with MCSO detectives after being arrested, according to court documents, Hoyle admitted to setting both fires and he did so because he was angry at Gethsemane Ministries because he believed they were taunting him by hiding his ex-girlfriends.

Hellenthal said some of the men displaced by the fires are in the Super 8 Motel in Shelton and a group of 15 people left Tuesday for a mission trip to Phoenix to participate in street and food ministry. The group will also work at spring training Major League Baseball games and raise money for 40 days.

"We're looking for other alternative housing right now," Hellenthal said. "So we need a couple houses that we can rent or as temporary housing. Our facilities are insured so the insurance will cover the transitional costs. That's the plan."

Hellenthal said people have stepped up to support Gethsemane Ministries. He said people can help by praying for Gethsemane Ministries, but also by helping with resources for housing, furnishings and storage containers. He said he believes it will take about a year or more for Gethsemane Ministries to fully recover from the fires.

"We're pretty adaptive at overcoming things. We're already up and running and continuing our mission," Hellenthal said. "Matter of fact, we have a 40-by-40-foot tent that we erected that we had class in this morning. We have propane heaters in there and we do our life skills class or a Bible study twice a day, once in the morning, once at night Monday through Friday. We also have our church services that we hold on the weekend. We're already up and running, although it's at kind of a crisis mode."

Hellenthal said Gethsemane Ministries is hoping to turn this into a positive.

"We're very optimistic and we're believing for the best," Hellenthal said. "We're believing that hopefully, this individual will get the help that he needs and whatever that is, whatever the court works out with him, but we just look at it as an opportunity to continue to serve God and to be a blessing here in the community. That's been our goal since we started."

Author Bio

Matt Baide, Reporter

Shelton-Mason County Journal & Belfair Herald
Email: [email protected]

• Email: [email protected]