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Wednesday, August 05, 2015

Report: Mansion fire that killed 6 accidental

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — An exhaustive six-month probe found that wiring under a large Christmas tree sparked a mansion fire that spread so quickly a Maryland couple and four of their grandchildren couldn’t escape, despite a functioning alarm system, a report released by federal investigators.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Anne Arundel County Fire Department report, which concluded the fire was accidental, identified numerous hazards at the castle-like mansion near Annapolis, Maryland. The primary hazard was that although it was a residential building, it was built like a commercial building with about 16,000 square feet, not including the basement.

“Additionally, the building had been built to look like a castle so there were numerous round turrets located throughout the building,” the report said. “All of these factors created potential collapse issues.”

Investigators determined a 15-foot Fraser fir Christmas tree in the mansion’s Great Room was capable of generating enough energy to fuel the blaze. They also found there were no timers on the Christmas lights, which had been left on for about six weeks leading up to the fire. The tree also had shown signs of moisture loss at the time of the Jan. 19 fire near Annapolis, Maryland, that killed Donald and Sandra Pyle and four of their grandchildren.

As many as 15 strands of lights were plugged into a power strip, which was plugged into a floor receptacle.

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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow...their extravagance literally killed them.

Anonymous said...

Cover up. This was murder by the feds. His background...... Lmao. Just like the all the other big shots that have died in the last two years "accidentally". 70+ ? Yeah right.

Anonymous said...

9:14 ridiculous comment.

Anonymous said...

Sad

Anonymous said...

Too much money, not enough brains.

Anonymous said...

9:30 I sorta have to side with you. How the heck do you not jump out a window? I do not recall them all being trapped in a finished basement which had no way out.

9:14 you are correct and your comment is NOT ridiculous.
5:55 SO true isn't it.

No matter what, it is a sad event.