Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV
February 1, 2012
Cause of fire that destroyed historic Welch building still under investigation

By KATE COIL
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

WELCH — Investigators with the West Virginia State Fire Marshal’s office have determined the origin of a blaze that brought down a historic downtown Welch building.

Assistant State Fire Marshal Scott Rodes said Tuesday investigators have determined the fire began on the third floor of the five-story Libby Building in Welch, though exactly what sparked the fire remains under investigation.

“At this time the investigation into the fire incident at the Libby Building in Welch remains open and ongoing,” Rodes said. “Also, the exact cause of the fire is undetermined. We were able to determine an area within the building — the third floor — where the fire originated. However, based on uncontrollable factors such as extent of damage, stability and safety issues, we were unable to determine an exact cause based on the scene examination alone.”

Although the fire has been classified as “undetermined” in origin, Rodes said that classification is subject to change as the investigation continues.

“Interviews and a follow-up investigation have been conducted since the date of the fire and the official determination as to the fire cause may or may not change based on the result of that follow-up investigation,” he said. “As fire investigators we strongly discourage the use of the term ‘suspicious’ to describe the cause of a fire incident. Officially we will label a fire cause as accidental, incendiary (criminal), natural or undetermined. Until we have enough provable evidence indicating an exact cause we will label a fire cause as ‘undetermined.’”

Rodes said investigators were able to complete their scene investigation before the building collapsed last Thursday.

“I can tell you that our fire scene examination was completed on the evening of the fire and that the subsequent collapse of portions of the building did not have a bearing on our determination as to cause,” Rodes said. “However, as I stated previously, at the time of our scene examination stability of the structure was one of many factors which contributed to an ‘undetermined’ fire cause.”

According to Rodes, it is common for a fire, such as the one at the Libby Building, to cause the structure to become weak and collapse.

“Fire by its very nature is destructive, and sometimes it takes away the very things we need to look at to make a determination as to cause,” Rodes said. “Fire and the extreme heat which can be generated during these incidents, will many times damage a structure to the point where instability becomes a factor. I can tell you from experience, personal safety at these types of incidents, both from a fire fighter and a fire investigator perspective, is an utmost concern and should not be taken lightly.”

Welch Mayor Reba Honaker said the Libby Building and the building next to it have been completely demolished following the fire.

“The building is completely down as well as the building next to it,” she said. “Southern Insurance has temporarily relocated out to the Horne Lumber Company site. McDowell Street was reopened Monday evening, and traffic is flowing back to normal in Welch. Right now, we are primarily interested in getting dirt in and getting it leveled and getting what is left of the debris covered.”

Honaker said the Libby Building was built in the 1920s and a few architectural pieces of the building were salvaged after the fire for preservation.

“We were able to save some of the ornate fixtures that were up in the original building,” Honaker said. “One came out of the fire pretty much intact and the other was split, but I think that we can get someone to put it back together and repaint it. Those fixtures are just so beautiful and show the architectural design of the building. We are hoping to preserve those pieces and put them into a museum we are planning.”

Honaker said she would like to thank the city police, fire departments, crews and citizens of Welch for coming together despite the tragic loss of the building.

“I just can’t praise our fire and police departments enough for what they did,” Honaker said. “They gave it their all to try and save that building. We were blessed in the end with good workers and good support from the community. Even with the inconvenience of the traffic flow, people were very nice and very understanding and patient about it.”

— Contact Kate Coil at

kcoil@bdtonline.com

WOULD IT BE POSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE TO POST PICTURES?

Go to the Bluefield paper web site

This is SO sad :(

Was municipal parking building completely unscathed?!?!

Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV
February 14, 2012
Update: Welch parking building cleared for use


Bluefield Daily Telegraph

WELCH — A fire that destroyed a building in downtown Welch has spared a neighboring parking garage that is now in use.

The Libby Building along McDowell Avenue burned Jan. 24. City officials were concerned that the adjacent parking building had been damaged, but a structural engineer has cleared it for use, City Attorney Danny Barie said today.

For more on this story and other news, read Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph or visit www.bdtonline.com.