THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 8, 1995 TAG: 9508080348
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Fire officials have confirmed early reports that the work of welders caused a fire that destroyed a historic blimp hangar and the world's largest operating blimp last week.
``It has been ruled an accidental fire. There weren't any charges or anything like that,'' said Doug Hooper, chief deputy with the Pasquotank County sheriff's office.
``The most probable cause of the fire is a result of smoldering combustion of the structure timber, which occurred from the welding and cutting operations in the box beam.''
Some 15 to 20 state, federal and local officials spent the weekend combing the remains of the 1,000-by-300-foot building - one of the world's largest wooden structures. Among the agencies investigating were arson units from the State Bureau of Investigation and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Hooper said.
Welders from a Virginia-based subcontractor had been working on a crucial I-beam of the 120-foot doors on the hangar's east end until 9 p.m. Wednesday, officials from TCOM L.P., the building's primary tenant, said last week.
The fire started in that area about midnight. Officials believe some debris from the welding got between the wooden walls and smoldered until a blaze broke out, Hooker said.
TCOM lost several aerostats - sophisticated unmanned balloons used for surveillance - as well as manufacturing and repair equipment. Westinghouse Airship Inc., which subleased space in the hangar, lost its Sentinel 1000 blimp, a 222-foot-long airship considered the largest in operation.
TCOM estimated its losses at $30 million to $40 million. Westinghouse officials would not give a damage estimate. The Pasquotank sheriff's office said $100 million total damage was a conservative guess.
Officials for both companies were working on recovery plans in the wake of the fire.
``We have a lot of sentiments toward this icon, and we are certainly in shock over this,'' Al Boswell, a TCOM spokesman, said Monday. ``But we cannot be overly surprised that a wooden hangar wasn't going to be there forever.''
The laminated pine structure, built by the Navy in 1942, originally spawned airships that were used to spot German submarines near coastal shipping lanes during World War II. MEMO: Staff writer Anne Saita contributed to this story.
KEYWORDS: FIRE BLIMP HANGAR by CNB