SPOKANE – Fire that destroyed a nearly complete Gonzaga University apartment complex was intentionally set, Spokane Fire Chief Bobby Williams said Wednesday.
The investigation into the March 13 fire that destroyed the $11 million Kennedy Apartment complex showed “multiple areas of fire origin,” Williams said.
The arson investigation is concentrating on a motive and possible suspects, but there is no apparent link to anyone who might have targeted the university or construction company, or to any radical environmental group, Williams said.
“We have to look to see if we can find any reasoning” for the arson, Williams said.
Gonzaga’s president, the Rev. Robert Spitzer, said the conclusion that the fire was intentionally set was dismaying.
“We are saddened to learn today that fire department investigators have determined that the March 13 fire to the Kennedy Apartments complex was intentionally set. We know of no one who would deliberately destroy university property,” Spitzer said in a statement. “We will cooperate in every way to assist fire investigators and law enforcement officials to determine who is responsible for this heinous crime.”
University spokesman Dale Goodwin said security guards had chased transients out of the building last fall, but he knew of no recent incidents.
Investigators from the Fire Department, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and four private investigators hired by insurance companies dug through the smoking rubble for more than a week after the fire, the chief said.
Williams said he could not be specific about the numbers of fires set, or where or how they originated, to discourage copycats or people who falsely confess to crimes.
It will be determined later whether the crime is charged under state or federal laws. Gonzaga receives federal funding for programs such as ROTC, Williams said.
The fenced property was guarded by a private security company hired by the contractor.
Williams said investigators viewed numerous photographs, as well as videotapes shot by neighbors, onlookers and Fire Department personnel before coming to the conclusion that the fire was intentionally set.
The building met construction codes, but a sprinkler system had not yet been connected, leaving the site “vulnerable” to fire, Williams said.
He declined to say whether large propane tanks inside the building had been used to start the fire, or contributed to the fire’s spread. Loud explosions were heard as the tanks ruptured inside the five-story, U-shaped apartment complex during the fire, which took days to extinguish.
Williams and other Fire Department officials met with Spitzer and representatives of contractor Walker Construction Co., just before the news conference Wednesday.
Officials at the Roman Catholic university run by the Jesuit Order of priests said they plan to rebuild the apartments on the northwestern corner of campus. Before the fire, the complex was to be ready for occupancy this summer.
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