| | Council member Wells suspects
Eastern Market fire was arson | | June 26, 2009 |  | | By | Patti Shea
and Julie Westfall |
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| | Staff Writers | | As Eastern Market reopened more than two years after a devastating fire, Ward 6 D.C. Council member Tommy Wells for the first time said he believes the flames were intentionally set.
“I have a tremendous amount of suspicion that it was arson,” Wells told the Voice immediately after the market reopened Friday.
Initially, D.C. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said it was “90 percent likely” the April 2007 fire was caused by malfunctioning electrical equipment, and the chief stuck by that assertion though its final report listed the official cause of the fire as “undetermined.” Controversy has always swirled around the findings.
A federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation found that the electrical system did not cause the fire. And two D.C. firefighters are suing the city after they claimed they were demoted because they didn’t agree with the city’s assertion that it was likely an electrical fire.
The firefighters suspected that 28-year-old Joel Ramos, who was arrested for setting several Dumpster fires in the area, was responsible for the Eastern Market fire. Shortly after his arrest, Ramos’ dead body washed ashore in King George County, Va. and the Dumpster fires stopped.
Wells believes Ramos is responsible for the fire, and said that since Ramos is dead, it would be a “moot point” to pursue the issue.
Fire Department spokesperson Alan Etter said there is no evidence to support an arson charge.
“We simply don’t have enough physical evidence that indicates that,” he said. “It’s still an open investigation and the cause is as yet undetermined. It’s not unusual for the cause of a fire, particularly one this damaging and this massive, to not have the physical evidence to prove what caused it.”
The 136-year-old building, which was self-insured by the city, cost $22 million to rebuild. | | | | | Log in to comment on this article |
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