Asbestos has been discovered in the ruins of Estes Park’s Park Theatre Mall, which was gutted by an intense fire early Monday, a spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said today.
ATF special agent Craig Roegner said the discovery of the asbestos was not entirely unexpected, given the age of the building and the renovations done to it.
The structure was built in 1914 and renovated in the early 1970s.
Roegner said that the federal agency has taken steps to contain the asbestos. Testing has shown the air around the mall is not contaminated with asbestos, he said.
There are about 30 ATF agents working to determine the cause of the fire. Among them are 21 members of the agency’s National Response Team.
During the past two days, large sections of flooring, roofing and beams have been removed from the mall to help agents pinpoint the origin of the blaze, said Roegner.
He said the agents will continue working through the weekend.
Assisting the ATF is an accelerant-detection canine from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Roegner said that so far, the ATF has found nothing to indicate the fire is “suspicious” in origin, although investigators have found “potential multiple sources of fuel” for the fire.
Roegner said the ATF is currently in an “elimination and processing stage” and that samples from the fire will be sent back to the ATF’s national fire laboratory in Ammendale, Md.
Roegner said the rain and snow in Estes Park on Wednesday did not contaminate the fire scene.
The ATF national response team is composed of veteran agents having post-blast and fire-origin and cause expertise.
On the team are forensic chemists, explosives enforcement officers, fire-protection engineers and intelligence specialists.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
