DULUTH – Investigators probing the cause of a fire that destroyed a historic synagogue are examining new evidence and surveillance video hoping to learn more about what started the blaze.
Officials here on Tuesday said the investigation is ongoing and offered few new details about the fire that ravaged the Adas Israel Congregation, an orthodox synagogue that sparks childhood memories for Jewish community members across the Midwest and beyond.
"For people of faith who attend a building every week, sometimes multiple times a week, to have a building taken away from them overnight … this has been certainly very difficult for our Jewish community," Duluth Police Chief Mike Tusken said at a news briefing at city hall. "We're working in earnest to have a resolution on this."
Investigators were knocking on hundreds of doors at nearby apartment buildings to learn what neighbors might have seen, and reviewing hours of surveillance video in search of answers, Tusken said.
He said that some of the video has "been incredibly helpful."
Tusken added that investigators have no indication that there is a threat to any other places of worship.
The fire broke out at the nearly 120-year-old synagogue shortly before 2:30 a.m. Monday. State and federal investigators have been working the fire scene ever since, trying to determine the cause of the blaze and whether it was deliberately set.
Late Monday, officials said there had been no known threats made against the congregation. At that time, police had interviewed "several people of interest," they said, but investigators had yet to discover evidence that would suggest arson.