Arab Today - Quick Mart Investigation

	Investigation Continues In Quick Mart Fire January 15, 2010 Investigators continue to search for the cause of a fire that destroyed the C & V Quick Mart last week. An Investigator from the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office, a Forensic Fire Investigator hired by the Insurance Company and Arab Fire Chief Ricky Phillips have spent several days working on the cause of the fire at the store fire on Fry Gap Road. Phillips said, "So far we know for sure the fire started in the storage room at the back of the building. We still are working the fire scene as a suspicious fire until we prove or rule out some theories we have developed. We have begun to work on ruling out various theories as to how it could have started and have reached a point that we now are waiting on a report from an analysis on some debris samples that we have collected." Phillips said a report on the samples is expected within a few days. The insurance company has hired a private lab to analyze the samples, therefore speeding up the report. Sending the samples to the State Forensic Lab would have taken 4-5 months for the results according to Phillips There is only one lab (in Birmingham) that analyzes fire debris now and they handle the entire state. A K-9 team from the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office joined in on the investigation. The dog showed some interest in a couple of areas of the store according to Phillips. Phillips said the dog has been trained by the ATF to sniff out 28 various chemicals that could be used to start a fire. "His interest does not necessarily mean that the fire was intentionally set (or not) just that he recognized one of the odors that he is trained to notice. It’s up to the investigators to determine if there was in fact something there and if so, determine why it would be there or how it got there." Phillips added.

Investigation Continues In Quick Mart Fire

January 15, 2010
Investigators continue to search for the cause of a fire that destroyed the C & V Quick Mart last week. An Investigator from the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office, a Forensic Fire Investigator hired by the Insurance Company and Arab Fire Chief Ricky Phillips have spent several days working on the cause of the fire at the store fire on Fry Gap Road.

Phillips said, "So far we know for sure the fire started in the storage room at the back of the building. We still are working the fire scene as a suspicious fire until we prove or rule out some theories we have developed. We have begun to work on ruling out various theories as to how it could have started and have reached a point that we now are waiting on a report from an analysis on some debris samples that we have collected."

Phillips said a report on the samples is expected within a few days. The insurance company has hired a private lab to analyze the samples, therefore speeding up the report. Sending the samples to the State Forensic Lab would have taken 4-5 months for the results according to Phillips There is only one lab (in Birmingham) that analyzes fire debris now and they handle the entire state.

A K-9 team from the Alabama State Fire Marshal’s Office joined in on the investigation. The dog showed some interest in a couple of areas of the store according to Phillips.

Phillips said the dog has been trained by the ATF to sniff out 28 various chemicals that could be used to start a fire. "His interest does not necessarily mean that the fire was intentionally set (or not) just that he recognized one of the odors that he is trained to notice. It’s up to the investigators to determine if there was in fact something there and if so, determine why it would be there or how it got there." Phillips added.