Investigators say cause of fire undetermined

TYLER-Both the Tyler Fire Department and the ATF held a press conference Sunday to release their findings on what caused three historic Downtown Tyler buildings to go up in flames last Monday night.

Throughout this past week the National Response Team along with Tyler firefighters, local field agents and a handful of others have spent hundreds of hours investigating the cause. “We’ve investigated this fire and this building from top to bottom,” Tyler Fire Marshal, Paul Findley, said.

Investigators have completed their scene examination and announced their findings Sunday evening. They say the cause is undetermined. “It does not mean that we are lacking theories as to how the fire started,” special agent for the ATF, Scott Sweetow, said. “In fact we had some theories about how the fire started and we tested them out with fire modeling and everything was consistent. With us it comes down to a very high level we have to meet.”

Investigators say though the exact cause maybe undetermined; there are a number of things they’ve been able to confirm. “We can say conclusively that the fire started in the basement of 113 N. Spring St,” Sweetow said. “We can also say that there is no indication, at least at this point that the fire was intentional or that is was accidental.”

Despite reports from residents who say they smelled what they thought was gas Monday morning, investigators have confirmed that there is no evidence of a gas leak.

Investigators say they have completed their joint investigation, but parts of Spring Street will remain closed for the next few days for safety precaution.