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February Bisbee Main Street fire likely electrical

Official classification: Undetermined
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BISBEE, Ariz. (KGUN) — Fire investigators have released their report on the cause of the Bisbee Main Street fire back in February that destroyed two historic buildings in the heart of the city.

The cause of the fire is being officially classified as 'undetermined,' though the report says investigators suspect the cause is electrical. However, due to the damage caused by the building collapse, investigators were hindered in their access to the building itself.

The report says the fire started at 30 Main Street, the location of Bisbee Oil and Vinegar. Back in April, Bisbee Fire Chief Jim Richardson showed KGUN 9's Cochise County Reporter Alexis Ramanjulu the utility room where the fire initially started.

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According to the report, the owner first saw the fire and tried to put it out with a fire extinguisher. When the fire grew too large, he and his wife escaped through the roof of the building next door.

Nobody was hurt.

The buildings damaged in the fire are currently being taken apart brick-by-brick for reconstruction, after engineers determined saving the original structure was not a plausible course of action.

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