Fire Officials: Arson Not Likely in Bedford Blaze

Bedford fire investigators are zeroing in on the cause of the three-alarm blaze that destroyed an office building on South River Road on Tuesday night, though the official cause may not be released for days.

Bedford Fire Chief Scott Wiggin said Wednesday that investigators have narrowed their origin focus to one specific area of Building A at the Daniel Webster Office Park, at 288 South River Road, though he said his department is working with the building's insurance company before releasing details to the public.

The results of the insurance investigation will likely be available within three- to four- days, he added.

Capt. Kevin Murray, who is leading the investigation, says the current evidence doesn't point to arson.

"We've ruled out a lot of obvious signs, so we're not investigating the suspicious side of it at this time," said Murray. "A lot of debris still has to be gone through, but we've had some interviews with the people who own the building and our initial findings indicate this fire isn't likely of a suspicious nature, which is always a good thing when you're investigating a situation like this."

Despite Building A being a complete loss, both Murray and Wiggin noted that a firewall and quick actions by firefighters likely saved Building B, which is attached to the destroyed part of the structure. Building B did suffer some minor smoke and water damage, but Building C, located across a small parking lot, was untouched by the fire.

In addition, Wiggin said weather conditions, though not ideal, could have been worse.

"We're very fortunate," he said. "You know, two or three days ago, when we had subzero temperatures, this could have been a very dangerous situation in terms of both fire suppression efforts and of the well being of the firefighters at the scene."

Roughly 24-30 firefighters from at least seven additional departments - Goffstown, Hooksett, Londonderry, Manchester, Merrimack, Milford and New Boston - either responded to the blaze or helped Bedford FD with coverage while the flames were being contained.

Bedford Patch will continue to follow this story in the coming days, as more details are made available. In the meantime, follow us on our Facebook page, Twitter feed, and be the first to know when news breaks by signing up for our FREE daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.