Cause of Armory fire in Aberdeen remains unknown

The on-site investigation into the Armory Building fire concluded on Tuesday, but the origin and cause of the fire are still undetermined.

Aberdeen Fire Chief Tom Hubbard said nothing they found in the Armory could be identified as the cause of last month’s fire that destroyed most of the Aberdeen Museum of History, the Coastal Community Action Program offices and the Aberdeen Senior Center.

“After going through, looking at each and every item, there was nothing at this point that can be said, ‘This is it,’” said Hubbard.

Hubbard wrote in a press release that some materials from the fire will be removed and further examined off-site to see if they indicate what caused the fire. He declined to say what these materials are, and wasn’t sure whether they would lead to more information regarding a cause.

Now, Aberdeen Parks Director Stacey Barnum is organizing recovery efforts for artifacts and items from the museum and CCAP offices. Barnum said she hopes to have a meeting by Friday with city officials, museum and CCAP staff, and their respective insurance representatives.

“I know everyone is anxious to get their items out of the building,” said Barnum.

At that meeting, she said the city would select a company that does salvage work after disasters, which they would hire to extract items from the museum.

“In these situations, I would think whatever company we hire would be able to come in the following week,” she said.

Two days after the fire, the city hired Servpro, which recovered thousands of documents and photos from the basement.

Barnum said only the recovery company staff would probably be allowed into the building.

“We’re hoping that the only people going in will be the professionals,” said Barnum. “I’ve got a map and layout of the building. We’ll have to identify which rooms in the building, what types of items are in there, so the recovery company knows which areas we’re looking to get items out of.”

In the near future, Barnum said she would put together a frequently asked questions sheet to explain how people can find out the status of items they donated to the museum.

“There are people who have loaned items . who are interested in finding out what they need to do, if their item is recoverable, or if they need to file a claim for their property loss,” she said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, museum director Dave Morris had not been notified of the investigation findings or recovery plans.