Cause of Palouse fire remains unknown

April 11--This story has been corrected since initial publication

The cause of the Tuesday fire that destroyed the Brick Wall Bar & Grill in Palouse is "undetermined" at this time, according to a news release from the Palouse Fire Department.

In the news release on the fire department's Facebook page, Fire Chief Mike Bagott said the insurance carrier and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives have concluded investigations into the fire.

Norman Loftin, a special investigator for Unified Investigations & Sciences, Inc. of Spokane, said investigators could not find the cause after an exhaustive examination that included studying burn patterns, examining the damage and conducting interviews with the building owner and fire responders. It was originally believed that electrical problems may have started the fire.

(The previous paragraph initially misstated Loftin's title)

Matthew Erlich, spokesperson for the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, wrote in an email Thursday that owner Adam Barron purchased an electrical permit online for the bar. However, he wrote no inspections had been requested on the permit and no inspections had been performed.

Bagott said excavation equipment was used to assist investigators at the scene. The fire department cleared the scene Wednesday night at 7 p.m. after watching for flare-ups in the debris.

Bagott said the insurance company provided a private security officer to watch the scene Wednesday night. Fencing has been put in place to secure the area.

No injuries to emergency responders or civilians have been reported at this time.

An engineer arrived to check the structural integrity of the building that was formerly connected to the bar. Bagott said there was very little water, heat and smoke damage to the building but there was concern over the stability of the wall that was shared with the bar.

The Daily News could not contact the engineer, but the owner of the adjacent building, Diane Cooper, said the engineer informed her that parts of the wall may need to come down, but the majority of it is safe.

"I think my building is going to be OK," she said.

Electrical inspection

On Thursday, the Daily News reported that, according to public records from Labor and Industries, the Brick Wall Bar & Grill had not received any state electrical inspection.

Erlich said Barron indicated in the permit the electrical work would consist of remodeling the existing bar, replacing all lighting and adding a new heating system. Erlich said this type of work does require inspections.

"You need to request an inspection when finished or when energizing the circuits," he said.

He said if there is evidence that wiring was energized or work was completed on the permit and no request for an inspection was made, then they would investigate it with Barron.

At this point, he wrote, L&I cannot comment on whether Barron made a mistake by not requesting an inspection, nor do they know the extent of the wiring work done in the bar.

Attempts to contact Barron were unsuccessful.

Anthony Kuipers can be reached at (208) 883-4630, or by email to [email protected].

___

(c)2014 the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho)

Visit the Moscow-Pullman Daily News (Moscow, Idaho) at www.dnews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services