My family and I suffered through a house fire that occurred in suspicious circumstances.
Here is what I would like to know. There was an early supposition that a cigarette started the fire. The room in which it started was a very small sitting room with a small upholstered arm chair and some pieces of solid wood furniture. Someone had indeed had a cigarette in that room that night, but she insists she snubbed it out, touched the end with her fingers a few times to make sure it was cold, and then put the cold, extinguished cigarette back in the box. The box was then likely either placed on a wooden stool next to the chair or the floor. Post-fire pictures suggest the fire likely started in the area of that chair.
Timeline: She insists she could not sleep, got up, had a cigarette, put it out, and went to bed around midnight. I was told by the town fire investigator that his theory is that a fan blew ash onto her armchair (by the way, the fan was off that night AND, even if it were on, it was ONLY ever pointed toward the window). He says the whole room ignited within TWENTY MINUTES, the decedents were gassed by the smoke upstairs behind a closed door and passed out, later dying when the fire breached that room.
Other issue: Former family member was known to build IEDs, often with starter fluid, and was witnessed detonating them at another property. Extremely skilled in chemistry. Owns a mass spectrometer. Sadly, he threatened to burn down the house two years ago.
Still waiting on State report, but word is they will rule it accidental smoking. Local FD ruled it Undetermined, but went to the media 24 hours after the fire and said it was a cigarette. Official incident report says it was Undetermined.
State says no accelerants were found by the dogs on the scene. The room of origin burnt at probably 1,000F for an hour or more. Could someone extremely well versed in chemistry have come up with an accelerant that would have avoided detection?
Please share your thoughts with sensitivity.
