THUNDER BAY — Proving the cause of the fire that destroyed the Finnish Labour Temple has become an elusive goal for investigators.
Nearly a week after the Dec. 22nd blaze, a Thunder Bay Fire Rescue spokesperson says although they have "ideas" about the origin of the fire, the structural damage has prevented a verifiable conclusion so far.
Building owner Brad McKinnon has said he knows how the fire started, but wants the official word to come from the fire department.
However Thunder Bay Fire Rescue Captain Kevin Anderson said Tuesday "We have ideas but we have to use the scientific method as opposed to 'Yeah, somebody was working here, and maybe something happened.' "
Anderson was interviewed as the fire department and the Office of the Fire Marshal were preparing to wrap up the on-site portion of their investigation.
He said a key element of finding proof involves identifying exactly where the fire spread from.
"So until we can put eyes on that area, we can't determine [that]...We actually have to see something in terms of char patterns, burn patterns, to really confirm what it is."
The problem arises from a lack of access to the likely point of origin somewhere above the second floor.
"Most of that third floor has collapsed in, or it's not safe to go into," Anderson said, adding that engineers have told fire officials not to venture into that area.
In any case, he said the damage there is very heavy.
"Because the fire burned for probably almost 24 hours, the whole area is all burnt. Every hour a fire burns, it just spreads and spreads and spreads."
Investigators are stymied even after peering into the third floor from a ladder truck, and deploying an aerial drone to find evidence.
Anderson was asked about the possibility the case will stay unsolved.
"It may be looking that way unless we can see something from below," he said.
"But again, the roof's collapsed on top of things, so now you've got the third floor covered by a heavy roof, new roof, old roof, drywall, lathe and plaster...We can't look at that area of origin that we're suspecting."
Investigators still hope to gain useful information by talking to workers who were in the building the day the fire started.
"There's power in that building. There's tradespeople in that building," Anderson said. "All we can do is see what kind of activity was going on...then try to go to those areas and see if we can find anything," Anderson said.
"We're still going through these interviews. It's difficult because we can't get to that third floor but we're going to go in again today, dig around, and just keep on trying."
Once they're finished inside the building, he said the team will go off-site to review their notes and and analyze photos.
"It's hard. We definitely want to try to find a cause if we can, but at the same time we can't just guess," Anderson said.
He did confirm what McKinnon has stated previously, which is that there's no reason at this point to suspect arson.
