EVERETT — City, county and federal investigators weren’t able to figure out what caused a massive fire that burned a historic building in downtown Everett on Sept. 25.
A team of investigators traced the origin of the fire at Everett Office Furniture to a void space that’s about a foot wide in the southwest corner of the basement, between the brick exterior and a wooden interior wall. That space contained wiring, but it’s unclear if an electrical failure sparked the fire, Everett Fire Marshal LeRoy McNulty said Friday.
The rubble smoldered for days.
No evidence suggested that the fire was deliberately set, McNulty said. Sifting through the wreckage were fire experts from Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Snohomish County Fire Marshal’s Office; and the Everett Fire Department.
City historians mourned the loss of a building from circa 1901, with a rich past as a hotel, boarding house and storefront. It was one of the last standing wooden structures from Everett’s early years.
Most recently it housed a furniture business. The loss of the building and its contents amounted to about $1.5 million, McNulty said, not counting the cost to rebuild the business.
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