Could Mr.Poe and Eleanora have started the fire?

[Optimism is my Phil-osophy]

The conversation in the restaurant and Eleonora Poe's later telegram to Poe does not seem to indicate that. (LSTUA)

[Foxy]

I think they are both too inept for that big of a heist. Especially Mr. Poe. He never even recognizes... oh my goodness, what if Mr. Poe is in on it the whole time? And that's why he never "recognizes" Count Olaf?

Probably not, though. Mr. Poe, although not particularly helpful, doesn't strike me as particularly greedy. I think he is the type to follow rules and really enjoy that, so he wouldn't touch the Baudelaire fortune. He does enjoy getting promoted, but not enough to help Count Olaf carry out his wicked acts. And Eleanora is just basking in the newspaper's success. I don't think she's a murderer.

[Dante]

TRR kills stone dead the idea that Mr. Poe and Olaf are in cahoots, with the long argument between Poe, Stephano, and Dr. Lucafont about which car the children should travel in. If Poe and Lucafont were both on Olaf's side, they'd simply have agreed with his plan instantly. The same also goes for any other time Count Olaf's identity is revealed and only Mr. Poe is around to see it - like at the end of TWW, for instance.

Edit: That's somewhat beside the point of the question posed by the thread, but honestly, I detect no hint in the series that Mr. Poe and his sister are anything other than a pair of complete idiots.