Sunday fire now designated as undetermined
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on November 23, 2016 10:06 AM
Officials investigating a Sunday morning fire that destroyed a warehouse at 118 S. Carolina St. said Tuesday the fire is now designated as undetermined instead of suspicious.
"I would safely say at this point there is nothing showing us it was set, and there is nothing showing us it was not set," Assistant Goldsboro Fire Chief Eric Lancaster said. "I wouldn't really say it was suspicious, but we could get new information and follow up on that."
Lancaster said designating the fire as undetermined allows officials to leave the investigation open so they can pursue new leads as more information comes available.
Maj. Anthony Carmon, head of the Goldsboro Police Department's criminal investigations division, confirmed there is nothing indicating the building was set ablaze for insurance purposes.
Officials now believe the fire started in the center-rear area of the building, but are still having difficulty pinpointing what caused the blaze to ignite.
"The police department spoke with folks and interviewed people in the area, and can't narrow anything down as far as any person coming in and out of the building at any given time," Lancaster said.
He said the door to the building on the Chestnut Street side was unsecured when the fire began, and there was electricity running to the building also, leaving a wide array of possibilities as to what could have caused the fire.
"We believe the ignition source was found, but it's still very hard to tell with the heavy burning that occurred," Lancaster said.
The blaze on Carolina Street broke out just after 9 a.m. Sunday, and raged on for several hours before firefighters were able to get it under control.
The roof of a home at 111 S. Virginia St. caught fire but was quickly extinguished, and the flames threatened surrounding structures.
A police report on the incident estimates the fire caused $261,000 in total damages, valuing the damage to the old Goldsboro Builders Supply warehouse at $250,000 -- a total loss.
Firefighters spent nearly six-and-a-half hours on the scene Sunday, dumping water on the flames at a rate of up to 700 gallons per minute.