Salem Fire Continues McMahan's Investigation (VIDEO)

The building is a complete loss and damage to McMahans was estimated at well over a million dollars.

Photo by: Tim King

(SALEM) - Fire investigators have been on scene throughout the day at the McMahans Furniture store fire from last Thursday. Salem Fire spokesman Bill Holmstrom says information on the cause of the fire is not yet being released, but some answers are known.

Construction crews are staying busy at the building, dealing with every type of construction product that went into McMahans when it was originally built. The list includes asbestos and other hazardous materials.

The investigation is going to take some more time.

“Basically our investigators had some questions brought to their attention yesterday. They’re in there trying to find answers to those questions and investigators could be on secne for a day or a couple of days continuing this."

Holmstrom says there is little room for error.

"We want to be 100 percent sure of the information we release to our community. This has been a very important fire or important incident to our community. A lot of our community saw what occurred, we want to be sure that we’re doing the best job for our community.”

He confirmed earlier statements about the origin of the fire.

“Yes, the fire started in the basement, that hasn’t changed, they’re still looking at the southeast area of the basement and that continues as we speak.”

The building is a complete loss and damage to McMahans was estimated at well over a million dollars. More information on the cause of the fire will be released in the coming days.

WATCH THE VIDEO NEWS REPORT BY SALEM-NEWS.COM'S TIM KING BELOW.
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