SEATTLE - Ron Schuster looks over his balcony at his neighbor's house and wonders what type of person would intentionally torch a minister's house.
"They did not deserve it and they were great folks, good neighbors and good community people,” said Schuster.
Friends and family spent the day helping Minister Michael Carey salvage what's left of Sunday's arson. They were too distraught to talk.
This home is also a church and an in-patient drug and alcohol center.
There is the possibility that someone Carey once helped is responsible for setting the fire.
"It's so sad," says Reverend Anna Marie Korathu of St. George Episcopal Church. She says sometimes those you work so hard to help are hurting and can sometimes end up hurting you too. "The fear is to do something stupid like that. It's fear."
Carey and his family were returning home Sunday afternoon when they saw the suspect walking from the direction of their house. Minutes later they noticed the basement window was broken and smoke was billowing out of it.
The suspect was found blocks away hiding in a vacant house where he was taken into custody on trespassing charges related to breaking into the vacant property. The suspect's clothing has been taken in for evidence related to the arson. The suspect, according to a police report, had been a resident of the Carey house for two months until he left two weeks ago without notice.
As for the Careys, they'll now be starting over somewhere else.
"They're great people," says Schuster. "I'm going to miss them."
