Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 30, 1993 TAG: 9304300169
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short
The wind-driven fire early Tuesday was set in a second-floor breezeway between two apartments, said Capt. Herbert Redfield, the city's chief arson investigator. Redfield said evidence of a flammable accelerant - gasoline, kerosene or something similar - was found down the stairwell to the first floor.
Authorities were just starting to examine physical evidence in a laboratory and were reviewing interviews from the scene in an effort to identify a motive and suspects, Redfield said.
"Any information that is there that will lead to something, we will now track," he said.
According to Redfield, a dog trained to smell accelerants located the scent in an area of the Pretty Lake Village apartments that was identified on a videotape of the early scene as near where the fire started. The dog also was able to track the scent to the street, but lost it there, he said.
He said evidence of charring in the location identified by the dog was consistent with the use of an accelerant.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.