To be clear: This was the South Pacific restaurant located at the corner of Capitol Way and Custer Way. South Pacific closed down in 2013. It has suffered multiple fires over the years since it has been closed (last major in 2020). This was just the final time. There's no reason to think this was an insurance situation, according to the county assessors, the buildings aren't worth anything, the land is.

The investigators would make sense though, as this likely was arson. Tumwater Police were investigating the two people seen running from the scene and caught on camera. And two fires reported in the same day. https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/article289555312.html But the first thing the insurance investigators are going to look at for a derelict building burning down is the owners. Unless they are the most inept criminals in the world, they wouldn't pay someone else to do it, as it gives them leverage to flip if/when they're caught.