Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 29, 1991 TAG: 9103290004
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post and The New York Times
DATELINE: MOSCOW LENGTH: Medium
The fire, which American witnesses gathered outside the complex said appeared to be caused by American laborers at the site on Moscow's Tchaikovsky Street, raised once again the issue of where U.S. diplomats will work here after a new, Soviet-built embassy was deemed unusable by intelligence experts.
The fire reportedly began in an elevator shaft of the old embassy office, which has caught fire three times previously, at about 10 a.m. local time. A huge cloud of black smoke spewed from the top of the 10-story structure as hundreds of U.S. workers streamed into the streets.
More than 40 Soviet fire trucks arrived at the scene, but Soviet firefighters did not begin fighting the blaze with their full array of hoses and ladders until more than 30 minutes after they arrived. Soviet radio quoted one fire official as saying that Americans refused to allow them access to the compound for 42 minutes, and some American witnesses said Soviet firefighters appeared to be waiting until U.S. Marines could secure the building.
"It's not true," said James Bullock, first secretary for information at the embassy. Bullock said the Soviet firefighters were called "immediately" and that the Marines escorted them through the building, guiding them through dark corridors and unlocking doors to provide access. The building's top floors include top-secret communications and cryptographic equipment. Bullock said this area would be unusable "for the indefinite future."
When an earlier fire devastated the embassy in 1977, Ambassador Malcom Toon delayed giving Soviet firefighters access to the building so that embassy officials could protect or remove confidential documents and security equipment.
Later reports indicated that despite such precautions, KGB security personnel infiltrated classified areas, seriously compromising embassy security.
Shortly after the fire broke out, American witnesses forced onto the street said they had been told that American workers welding at the back of the building had started the fire accidentally and that it had spread rapidly up an elevator shaft and onto the roof of the building.
After a fire in the same embassy building in 1988, there were reports that Soviets were rifling through American papers in the "secure" or restricted areas of the embassy building. However, Bullock said Thursday that "there are no indications of any significant activities that would have compromised security" because of Soviets in the building during this fire.
Within hours after the fire started, U.S. Ambassador Jack Matlock and his staff had set up a makeshift office in another embassy building down the street.
The controversial new embassy building, about 200 yards behind the old one, is empty except for construction workers. Congress has not yet determined whether the building should be torn down and replaced or renovated. The Bush administration recently proposed a restructuring of the red-brick facility.
by CNB