A year after a fire destroyed a recreational vehicle (RV) belonging to Lawrence Scully of Grand Marais, the cause of the fire is still unknown.
On Friday, August 8, 2014, at about 11 a.m. a call came in to Cook County Law Enforcement reporting that a trailer was on fire. Grand Marais Fire Department, Grand Marais First Responders, Cook County Ambulance and Maple Hill Fire Department were paged and on the scene by 11:02 a.m. to find not a house trailer, but an RV on fire, parked approximately 20 feet from a residence and outbuilding at the east end of 5th Street.
The fire was extinguished and emergency responders were clear of the scene at 12:50 p.m. Scully was not injured, but the RV and all of its contents were a total loss.
Although the Cook County News- Herald has contacted the State Fire Marshal’s office numerous times, details have yet to be released on the cause of the fire.
Jennifer Longaecker of the Department of Public Safety explained, “It’s not uncommon for investigations to take months to complete; fire investigations are a very complex process and not every fire is the same.
“The type of building, the number of jurisdictions involved and whether or not there is pending litigation all can impact the length of an investigation. Also, investigators are working with evidence that is many times burned beyond recognition. They need to sift through ashes and dust to find what they are looking for–sometimes something as small as a grain of sand. This evidence is then sent to a lab where it needs to be analyzed, another step that takes time.
“Our investigators must follow the National Fire Protection Association Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations. There are hundreds and hundreds of guidelines.
“Investigating fires is one of the most important things we do and it’s something we take very seriously. Our investigators take pride in doing a thorough and professional job,” said Longaecker.
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