GU fire likely arson

Investigators are expected to announce soon that arson likely was the cause of the $11 million fire that destroyed the nearly completed Kennedy Apartment complex on the Gonzaga University campus earlier this month.

Their preliminary findings largely will be based on videotapes that appear to show fire initially burning in at least two locations in the unoccupied complex.

“With separate fires burning at two locations, what does that tell you?” one source familiar with the investigation said Tuesday.

Investigators now reportedly are looking for transients who may have trespassed on the property, despite private security guards hired by the contractor.

Fire investigators have asked police for any contacts that officers may have had at the fenced construction site in the 24 hours before the fire, Spokane police Cpl. Tom Lee confirmed Tuesday. “From the night prior to the fire up until the time the fire started, there were no police calls to that property,” Lee said.

The contractor was just days away from hooking up a sprinkler system. Electricity and natural gas service to the complex were being installed but had not yet been activated, according to university officials.

Propane tanks were being used to power equipment and heat the five-story, U-shaped complex being built for Gonzaga by Walker Construction. Thunderous explosions were heard as the tanks ruptured during the March 13 fire.

If the propane tanks were knocked over or placed near combustibles, or unused tanks were opened, that easily could explain why the fire appeared to have more than one ignition point, the source said.

Propane tanks used for heaters that came into contact with combustibles were responsible for a $7 million fire that destroyed a business complex at Sprague and Pines in Spokane Valley in December 1999.

As cleanup at the Gonzaga site continued Tuesday, the contractor still hadn’t been told officially about the suspected cause.

“I’ve heard rumors to that effect,” Ed Walker, vice president of Walker Construction and the project manager, said when asked if the fire may have had multiple points of origin.

Walker said he had not seen video that appears to show the fire burning in at least two spots on the southern wing shortly after it was reported at 12:05 a.m. on March 13.

Video of the fire was captured by a KXLY-TV “tower camera” atop Sacred Heart Medical Center, and the hospital’s own security cameras.

A spokeswoman for the medical center said its security camera began continuous taping at 12:37 a.m., about a half-hour after the fire was reported. The hospital’s video has not been requested by investigators, the spokeswoman said.

Fire Chief Bobby Williams, contacted late Tuesday afternoon, said he was not ready to officially announce the cause of the fire.

“I’m hoping to make that announcement Thursday afternoon,” Williams said. “We’re still waiting to talk to two other (officials) involved in the investigation before we say anything publicly.”

“Right from the start, we’ve been working with investigators for insurance companies involved in this,” the fire chief said.

Fire Capt. Michael Zambryski, the department’s lead investigator, couldn’t be reached for comment.

He and at least two investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have been searching for the cause of the fire.

Ed Butterfield, a retired Spokane Fire Department arson investigator who now does private fire investigations and consulting, said when a fire has multiple points of origin, arson is a strong possibility.

“Separating ‘accident’ from ‘arson’ can be difficult, other than if you have two points of origin,” said Butterfield, who was a Fire Department investigator for a decade.

Security at the site was being handled by Northwest Protective Service, a private firm hired by the contractor, said Dale Goodwin, director of public relations for Gonzaga University.

“There was a security guard there the night of the fire,” Goodwin said.

Tom Currie, the Spokane branch manager for Northwest Protective, did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

“There was only one actual trespassing incident we know about, and it happened in October,” Goodwin said. “Two transients were found inside the fenced area,” he said. “There were other times when people were found outside the fence, looking in, and were chased off.”