Cause Of Willows Fire Released

By Eric Clabaugh

June 18, 2010 Updated Jun 10, 2009 at 4:35 PM EST

It's been nearly four and a half months since a fire at the Willows of Coventry claimed the lives of three young women, all local college students. Wednesday, Fort Wayne Fire Department Officials say they have preliminary results as to how the fire started.

Shortly after five am, January 23rd, Fort Wayne Fire Department crews responded to a Blaze at the Willows of Coventry, the third in four months. Unlike the previous two, three young women, all International Business College students, died in the blaze. Fire officials say preliminary results on the cause indicate it was at or near an electrical outlet.

Fire Chief Pete Kelly says "We have believed for some time that it is electrical in nature. However we sent away, and other companies, insurance investigators, sent away as a whole team, electrical components to be tested more thoroughly."

So why did the investigation take so long?

Chief Kelly says "When there's fatalities or serious injuries, we deal with all fires very carefully, but in this case special attention and more people got involved, wether it be insurance companies or attorneys. So the more people that get inolved, it just takes longer."

These results are just preliminary and the investigation will not be complete until destructive test results taken on some eletrical devices are complete. But at this time, officials say foul play is not involved.




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