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Investigation into Winona fire focuses on possible electrical cause

Investigation into Winona fire focusing on electrical cause

September 17, 2013 at 5:07PM

Winona blaze contained; started in Islamic Center There were several apartments in the affected block, but there have been no reports of injuries, and witnesses at the scene said the flames were dissipating after firefighters spent more than five hours tackling the blaze. Star Tribune photo by Richard Sennott (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

An investigation into what caused a Friday fire that destroyed several buildings in Winona's downtown is centering, so far, on faulty electrics.

Winona Fire Chief Curt Bittle said Tuesday that investigators for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) did some "preliminary work" over the weekend. Based on that, "they're leaning at a possible electrical cause."

But an official cause won't be determined until all five agencies do a thorough investigation on Sept. 25. (That's the soonest date the many agencies involved could all make work, Bittle said.)

The fire started in the Winona Islamic Center, an L-shaped building that includes a mosque. "I think we've narrowed [the fire's origin] down to the rear part of the building," Bittle said.

Since Friday's fire, members of the Islamic center have been worshipping in churches that have offered up their space.

The Winona Daily News reports that the center's leaders plan to rebuild. Mohamed Elhindi, president of the center's board, told the paper that "absolutely we will be rebuilding, and Winona will have an Islamic Center."