May 24, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

To: Newsroom

For Immediate Release

Contact: Brian A. Crawford, Public Information Officer

Phone: 673-6652, cell: 455-2609, page: 675-2137

Aspen Fire Believed to have Started in Attic

■ Investigators still looking for exact cause

Shreveport fire investigators are still looking for the exact cause of a two-alarm fire that damaged eight units of the Aspen Apartment complex, 9730 Baird Road, that left six families homeless Tuesday afternoon. However, investigators have said they believe the fire’s origin, its starting point, was the attic of building 33. Investigators are still working on the case and have several other procedures to follow before a definitive cause can be determined. Fire officials hope to have those findings released by early next week.

On a structure this large, with this much damage, it takes a little longer for the investigators to determine a cause unless it is blatantly obvious, and in this case it’s not. They first must start with the least damaged area of the building and work their way inward, using the fire’s burn pattern to zero in on its origin. Once the location of where the fire started is located, variables for cause are looked for, such as what is in the area in the way of a medium that could have ignited materials found there. This is the point that investigators are at now.

The fire was first noticed by school children walking in front of the building around 2:45 p.m. Brian Harrison and Todd Nissen, both 11, ran and found an adult who in turn called 911 from a cell phone. When the first fire engine company arrived just minutes later, fire and smoke were already pouring through the roof of the two-story’s southwest corner. Intense winds pushed the fire along the remaining roof line consuming the entire top floor of the building. Fire officers called for a second alarm, providing the department with a total of six engines, three ladder trucks, two rescue companies and various support personnel. In all, forty firefighters were used to finally extinguish the blaze at 4:00 p.m.

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