A 54-year-old Centralia man is being held on $250,000 bail after allegedly breaking into a Chehalis property management office overnight, dousing desks with kerosene, and setting the building on fire — an act he told investigators was tied to his own plan for what he called “martyrdom.” Jeffrey David Post was at the scene when Chehalis police arrived early Tuesday, and he admitted to investigators that he set the fire because the property manager had made him homeless after his previous residence on Borst Avenue burned, according to a court affidavit.
Police were dispatched around 3:07 a.m. to a burglary alarm at Northwest Property Managers, located at 1646 S. Market Boulevard, according to The Daily Chronicle. The first officer on scene found the business's glass front door shattered, black smoke billowing from inside, and a man standing near the driver's side of a white Ford Ranger. Officers detained Post and secured him in a patrol vehicle, but as reported by The Daily Chronicle, the arriving officers first tried to put out the fire themselves before concluding the flames were too intense for them to handle.
Multiple Fire Crews Needed to Knock Down the Blaze
Once the Chehalis Fire Department took over, the same Chehalis coverage notes that crews from the Riverside Regional Fire Authority, Fire District 6, and Fire District 5 responded to assist under mutual aid. The combined effort knocked the fire down by 3:30 a.m. and had it fully extinguished by 3:45 a.m., roughly 38 minutes after the initial alarm. That kind of rapid multi-agency response relies on the Lewis County 911 Communications Center, which coordinates dispatches across the county's municipal fire departments and regional authorities during major incidents, as Hoodline has previously reported.
According to the affidavit described in the Chronicle's reporting, Post told investigators he had typed out a letter in his hotel room at the La Quinta in Centralia and said he had a shotgun in his vehicle. He indicated he planned to set the business on fire and then implied he intended to take his own life, referring to that intended act as “martyrdom.” Post admitted to breaking the window on the front door, entering the business, and splashing kerosene on the desks inside.
A Lighter That Didn't Work — Until Paper Caught Fire
Post told investigators he first tried to ignite the kerosene directly with a lighter, but it did not catch. He then switched to lighting a piece of paper on fire instead, and the burning paper ignited the kerosene, according to the affidavit. Post reportedly told investigators he set the fire to “re-balance things” and wanted to send a message to the property managers.
Northwest Property Managers previously operated under the name TJ Guyer Property Management and has served Southwest Washington since 1984, according to the company's own listings. Post was booked into the Lewis County Jail on Sept. 22, and court documents list his address as transient, with Centralia listed as his city of residence.
Charges Downgraded From Initial Booking, Bail Set at $250,000
Post was initially booked on suspicion of first-degree arson, but prosecutors formally charged him with second-degree arson and second-degree burglary when he appeared in Lewis County Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon. Under RCW 9A.48.030, second-degree arson applies when someone knowingly and maliciously causes a fire damaging a building under circumstances that don't rise to first-degree arson, which requires an occupied dwelling or a direct threat to human life. The burglary count stems from RCW 9A.52.030, which covers unlawful entry into a non-dwelling building with intent to commit a crime against property inside.
Both charges are Class B felonies, punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. However, legal analysis from the Ransom Law Firm notes that standard Washington sentencing guidelines for a defendant with no prior felony history typically call for a range of three to 12 months in prison, rather than the statutory maximum.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge Paul Strophy presided over Post's initial appearance, setting bail at $250,000 and appointing Don Blair as his defense attorney. Strophy was elected to Position 2 in November 2024 after serving as a court commissioner and practicing law for more than 16 years, according to prior Chronicle reporting on his swearing-in. Post's arraignment was held Thursday, and he remains in the Lewis County Jail.
The Chehalis Fire Department, which maintains a Class 5 rating from the Washington Survey and Rating Bureau and conducts annual pre-fire inspections of commercial businesses citywide, was called to the scene on a subsequent fire alarm after officers first responded to the burglary alarm. Details surrounding the earlier fire at Post's residence on Borst Avenue, which he referenced as his motive, remain unclear, and it is not known whether investigators are separately reviewing that incident.
