LONGMONT — Police announced Thursday that the fire that destroyed Howe Mortuary early Tuesday spread from a trash bin behind the building and was intentionally set.
Longmont Police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said fire investigators ruled out all accidental causes and that police are asking area businesses for any surveillance video from the time of the fire, which was called in at 1:22 a.m. Tuesday.
“Fire Investigators have determined the fire started in a Dumpster adjacent to the building,” Satur said in a news release. “This Dumpster was directly beneath an overhang containing an exhaust fan outlet which allowed the fire to quickly spread into the attic and through the roof. The team has also determined there was nothing present in the Dumpster that could have combusted spontaneously and concluded the fire was set by someone.”
Police are following up on previous cases in which trash bins were set on fire. This includes a Wednesday afternoon arson in which a person stuffed a rolled-up shirt in a newspaper box behind the Times-Call building and lit it.
Read more of the article at TimesCall.com.
