Cause of Sun-News fire not yet determined

LAS CRUCES - Las Cruces fire investigators spent much of Monday sifting through the blackened rubble of a Sun-News outer building destroyed a day earlier by fire, but they were not able to determine the source of the blaze.

The fire on Sunday afternoon gutted an old, adobe-walled storage building immediately adjacent to the Sun-News headquarters.

"We were able to find where the area of origin was, but I wouldn't be able to say what started it," said James VonSchriltz, Las Cruces fire department investigator.

The blaze started about 30 feet from the front of the structure, next to a doorway in the western wall, VonSchriltz said. The door was not connected to the main building, separated from the burned structure by a gap of less than a foot.

Meanwhile, Sun-News officials said the fire never breached the main building, which houses most newspaper operations, as well as the Real Estate Press. However, water damage occurred to portions of the floor and roof. Also, a northeastern part of the building that once housed the printing press remained cordoned off because of concerns about whether it was structurally sound.

During a brief visit Monday, the smell of smoke and wet ash permeated the main building, and lots of wet carpet was visible.

Sun-News publisher Frank Leto and fire officials said the dollar value of damages isn't known yet.

A cleaning crew arrived around noon to begin work at the Sun-News headquarters.

Though fire officials formally turned over

control of both buildings to the company on Monday, Leto said he can't yet specify how long it might take for operations to resume at that location. He re-emphasized, however, that customers and clients can expect newspaper delivery and service to continue, uninterrupted.

"As we said (Sunday), our commitment to the community is the same, seven days a week," he said.

Early Monday, Sun-News operations moved to a temporary home in the Ramada Palms Hotel, 201 E. University Ave. Around mid-afternoon, some 30 Sun-News personnel could be seen at makeshift stations - rows of tables lined with laptops - in a hotel conference room.

At the Sun-News, the 6,000 square-foot, burned structure attracted a stream of passers-by all day Monday, many of whom made special trips to survey the damage firsthand. The charred remnants of papers and documents that the structure once housed, as well as the blackened, collapsed roof, were visible.

Among the curious was Frank Acosta, 45, a lifelong Las Crucen who recalled visiting the now-burned building, back when he was in the fourth or fifth grade, to watch an older friend stuff advertising inserts into editions of the Sun-News. Acosta, now an HVAC technician, posed his own theory about what may have contributed to the blaze.

"These old buildings should be upkept," he said. "Just think if it had caused a casualty."

There wasn't a live electrical source to the building, company officials said.

Around 1:20 p.m. Sunday, the fire was reported at the Sun-News. A crew of firefighting personnel soon descended on the blaze. Officials said it was the largest in the city since a 2005 fire that destroyed a warehouse owned by Rawson Inc. Builders and Supply.

Josephine Torres, 54, daughter of the late Rita Torres, a former county clerk, walked by the Sun-News and seemed struck by the damage. Glass and ceramic bits covered the sidewalk, as investigators picked through the debris inside.

"These buildings have been here forever," she said.

Emilio Villani, 27, who lives in the neighborhood, said he didn't see the fire because he was out for a hike Sunday afternoon, but he wanted to view the aftermath.

"I was just imagining because it was a storage unit that there was a lot of paper - that I'm sure it was a huge fire," he said. "But that's actually why I came around here, to walk my dogs and check it out."

Sunday's blaze caused no injuries, and just one employee at work in the main building had to be evacuated.

The destroyed structure was one of three Sun-News-owned buildings located on the 0.58-acre lot. Their assessed value is $101,200, according to Dona Ana County records. Though adjacent, the main newspaper building is on a separate lot, according to tax records.

VonSchriltz said his official report, ready at the end of the week, will include an estimated value of damages. It will list the cause as undetermined.

VonSchriltz said the Sun-News must hire an engineer to review the portion of the main building that could be structurally damaged. The closed portion will be re-opened if it's deemed safe, he said.

Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443.

Timeline Sunday

• 1:15 p.m. - Passers-by begin reporting smoke at a storage building adjacent to the Sun-News headquarters. About 30 firefighting personnel soon respond and begin battling the blaze.

• 1:30 p.m. - Sun-News reporting staff and photographers called in to cover the fire.

• 1:45 p.m. - Off-duty reporting staff and other personnel gather at the Las Cruces Convention & Visitors Bureau to coordinate fire coverage and production of Monday's newspaper.

• 3:20 p.m. - Firefighters beat down the most substantial flames, though hot-spot blazes would continue throughout the evening.

• 7:30 p.m. - Sun-News staff, operating from a base at International Delights Café, wrap up coverage of the fire.

• 10 p.m. - Firefighters return to the Sun-News after sparks are reported from an air conditioning unit on the property. Officials believe the sparking was connected to the earlier fire. Fire personnel kept custody of the scene throughout the night.

Timeline Monday

• 8:15 a.m. - Las Cruces fire investigators launch an investigation at the storage building.

• Around noon - Fire department returns custody of most of the adjacent Sun-News headquarters building to newspaper officials. A northeastern portion of the building, however, remains cordoned off because of concerns about structural damage.

• 2:15 p.m. - Fire officials wrap up their investigation, saying the cause of the blaze can't be determined. They turn control of the burned structure over to the company, with instructions that it must be secured.

Source: Sun-News reporters, editors and Las Cruces Fire Department personnel