ATF Assisting Baltimore Fire Department With Investigation Of Massive Warehouse Fire
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Investigators are beginning to sift through a 94,000 square-foot warehouse that burned to the ground in South Baltimore.
The ATF is now pitching in to answer tough questions.
RELATED: ATF National Response Team Investigating Massive Baltimore Warehouse Fire
The Baltimore City Fire Department welcomes help from the ATF's National Response Team. With such a massive space, they say they need the manpower.
What little is left of a leveled warehouse in Brooklyn still leaves many unanswered questions and a big job for ATF investigators.
"First, where the fire may have originated, and then what the specific cause was," said ATF special agent Matthew Varisco.
The warehouse on Patapsco Avenue, which was filled with clothes, toys, and packing materials, ignited early Monday morning and smoldered well into the night.
Baltimore Fire Chief Roman Clark told WJZ the warehouse will take a team of experts to sort through.
"They came in to assist us with our investigation here because they are specialists and they have special equipment that they can use that we don't have," Chief Clark said.
Investigators are examining if the fire was deliberately set.
"We have to conduct interviews, interview witnesses, and collect all of the data that's necessary for us to then mirror that together with the scene," Varisco said.
If the fire is determined to be arson, the person responsible could face federal charges.
Firefighters do not believe anyone was inside the building at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported.
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