WILLIAMSPORT, Ind.-
An arson fire destroyed the 4-year-old public library in this northwestern Indiana town, investigators said Monday.
The fire was set Sunday night near the library’s outdoor trash collection area and spread to the roof, State Fire Marshal Roger Johnson said. He would not discuss what investigators found at the fire’s starting point but said there was nothing that would have started the blaze on its own.
“The fire just raced across the roof and the upper portion of the ceiling, making it very difficult to fight,” Johnson said.
The 6,000-square-foot library opened in 2002 in the town of about 2,000 people, about 20 miles west of Lafayette. No injuries were reported, and Johnson said no other buildings were damaged.
“When you just look at row after row of books still in their stacks but burnt, you realize what a tragic loss this is for the community,” Johnson said.
Library director Chris Brown said the library likely would be rebuilt.
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