Barre fire was arson
Mayor says building was insured, vows to rebuild soon
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Firefighters mop up Tuesday at the scene of Monday's fire that gutted the top floors of the Aldrich Block on the corner of North Main and Elm Street in Barre. STEFAN HARD/TIMES ARGUS |
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By David Delcore Times Argus Staff - Published: June 2, 2010
BARRE – Authorities say a spectacular Memorial Day fire that lit up the third floor of a vacant century-old downtown building was intentionally set.
State fire investigators, who spent several hours sifting through the rubble on the now-roofless third floor of the former bank building recently acquired by Mayor Thomas Lauzon, also indicated in a brief press release that their investigation is "ongoing."
Police believe the fire was set shortly after Monday's Memorial Day parade ended but provided no additional details.
It is unclear whether there were any signs of forced entry to the building, or if some form of accelerant was used to start the fire. Police are asking anyone with information about the fire, or who may have seen anyone in the building, to call the Vermont Arson Tip Award Program at 1-800-32 ARSON.
The cause of the fire went from "undetermined" to "arson" in a matter of hours on Tuesday.
Shortly before noon, Deputy Fire Chief Joseph Aldsworth cautiously declined to characterize the fire as "suspicious," despite the fact that it started on the third floor of a building that was vacant, presumably secured and, according to Lauzon, had no active electrical service in the area where the fire started.
"At this point, in time, it's prudent to say it's 'undetermined,'" Aldsworth said, predicting the chances were "strong" it would stay that way given the level of destruction.
But state fire investigators called in by Police Chief Timothy Bombardier, who also serves as the city's fire chief, apparently saw enough to conclude the fire was no accident.
Pending a thorough structural inspection, investigators have estimated the damage – including a collapsed roof – at over $200,000. Lauzon met with representatives of his insurance company on Tuesday and said the building was insured up to $700,000.
Lauzon, who was home mowing his lawn when firefighters responded to multiple reports involving the fire shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Monday, said he was last in the building on Saturday and noticed nothing amiss at that time.
Based on conversations he had with firefighters at the scene and his own knowledge of the building, Lauzon said he was troubled but not surprised to hear the fire was intentionally set.
"Obviously, I'm pretty concerned," he said. "People could have been hurt … . This is very serious."
Lauzon said he has spoken with investigators, but declined to discuss any details of what remains an active investigation.
"I'm not going to comment specifically about what they (investigators) have discussed with me," he said, suggesting police are pursuing several leads. Earlier in the day, Lauzon said he had turned the keys to the building over to authorities in the wake of the fire and indicated they were taking the case very seriously.
"It's being treated like a crime scene," he said at the time.
On Tuesday night, Lauzon said police have "released" the property, the keys are back in his hands and a work crew would start cleaning up the building today. The mayor didn't take kindly to those who apparently are insinuating he might have been responsible for setting the fire.
"Bite me," he said, then later apologized for the comment, but not for the indignation that provoked it.
"Some of the comments are just downright hurtful and hateful and I'm disappointed that people like that live in this community," he said.
Lauzon, an accountant and local developer who is heavily invested in downtown Barre and arguably the biggest booster of revitalization efforts, said he trusts authorities will solve the crime and he'll deal with the building.
"If anything, it (the fire) only makes the project more imperative," he said. But he conceded his redevelopment plans for the former bank building, which is located at the intersection of North Main and Elm streets, were dealt a serious setback.
Lauzon said those plans had been coming together nicely. In recent weeks he had applied for necessary permits and was preparing an application to take advantage of historic tax credits needed to finance the massive renovation to the 1910 building, as well as an adjoining two-story building that he purchased as part of a package deal. The buildings are collectively assessed at $800,000.
"We were literally going to start demolition and renovation next week," he said.
According to Lauzon, his plans for the building included three "very high-end" third-floor apartments. Initially, he said he was considering second-floor office space, before talking to a tenant who had expressed interest in both the first and second floors of the building.
That was before the fire.
"It changes everything," Lauzon said, noting that work that was done will have to be redone and applications withdrawn and resubmitted.
"It doesn't change the end result, but the time loss is discouraging," he added.
That assumes that a structural assessment determines the building is still sound.
Lauzon said he was heartened by the results of a preliminary structural analysis conducted Monday evening. Late Tuesday afternoon, Tim Dall, a structural engineer from Dubois & King Engineering, was conducting a follow-up assessment of the building's brick façade and Lauzon said he hoped to have his report shortly.
"It's my hope that we're going to be able to rebuild it," Lauzon said. "If there's a way to do it we're going to do it."
Roughly 130 firefighters from nearly a dozen area departments responded to Monday's fire, which closed portions of North Main and Elm streets for several hours. Their efforts, coupled with a fire wall separating the two vacant buildings purchased by Lauzon, prevented the fire from spreading to other nearby businesses.
Although there are conflicting estimates, firefighters used between 400,000 and 700,000 gallons of water to put out a fire that eventually destroyed most of the building's third floor. Reports that the third floor may have actually collapsed during the course of the fire were inaccurate, officials said.
Although fire and water damage was confined to the buildings owned by Lauzon, at least one adjoining business – Needleman's Bridal and Formal – sustained significant smoke damage.
However, thanks to the fast action of store manager Denise Pudvah and some timely assistance from landlord John Ormsby, local Realtor John Biondolillo and Matt Lumsden, who works for Biondolillo at BCK Real Estate, bagged wedding gowns were taken to safety shortly after the fire started.
"It really could have been a lot worse than it was," Mark Needleman said Tuesday. Needleman estimated smoke damage to prom gowns, dresses and tuxedos at roughly 10 percent of his $500,000 inventory.
"All of that is replaceable," he said, noting wedding gowns – particularly this time of year – were a different story. "We could have had some panicked brides on our hands."
Needleman said the response was appreciated.
"Hats off to the City of Barre," he said. "This wouldn't have happened in Burlington."
david.delcore@timesargus.com