Destructive testing holds up fire cause

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Almost four months after a fire that killed three young women, the fire department says further testing is holding up the release of the cause and origin.

Assistant Chief Amy Biggs said Tuesday afternoon destructive testing was keeping the investigation open. Biggs said destructive testing would destroy the materials involved forever more, so the fire department wants all interested parties to be witness to the testing, which will not be able to be recreated.

Biggs could not elaborate on the materials that needed to be tested but said an independent lab would be in charge of the testing. Biggs said the fire department has been working openly with interested parties throughout the investigation into what caused the fire on January 23rd at the WIllows of Coventry in Fort Wayne. The fire killed three young women.

Biggs released the cause of the hold up, as some of those interested parties filed a petition in Allen County Superior Court.

The property management group of the Willows of Coventry, Dial Equities, Inc. filed the suit along with the estate of Jennifer Spurgeon, who died in the fire, and the International Business College. All three of the deceased went to school at the college.

The petition asked a judge to force the city to reveal details of it's investigation, including 911 calls reporting the fire, pictures and any findings of investigators.

Biggs said that would be released upon completion of the destructive testing. She said the department was working on getting all interested parties together to witness the testing so they could close the investigation.

No one, more than the fire department, wants the investigation to be complete, according to Biggs. "We want to bring closure to those families," said Biggs.