Cause of Kloter Farms Fire Undetermined

The Ellington Fire Marshal’s office has concluded its investigation of the and could not determine what caused the fire.

Fire Marshal Allan Lawrence said that while a hypothesis cannot be formulated, a scenario considered likely by each of the investigators assigned has been identified. 

“It is plausible that one, and possibly two, lightning strikes documented in the area of the structure at approximately 1:30 a.m. compromised the electrical equipment in the attic of the structure, but did not result in a fire,” he said. “Then, as the air conditioning equipment came on line at approximately 5 a.m., non-specific arcing occurred to provide an ignition of combustibles in that area. Only a few minutes following arrival of the first employee of the day, the fire was discovered and reported at approximately 6:55 a.m.”

Lawrence said that notwithstanding the likely scenario, and because there are only three acceptable categories of fire causation, the assigned cause of this fire is undetermined. 

He said that the owners of the business were cooperative and helpful and that it was determined early in the investigative process that there were no criminal aspects to this fire.

According to Lawrence, determination of the cause of any fire requires identification of those circumstances and factors necessary for the fire to have occurred.

“Those factors include identification of a competent source of ignition energy, the type and form of material first ignited beyond that energy source, and the circumstances and sequence of events which allowed the factors to come together in such a manner so as to result in a fire,” he said.

In this case, the total body of evidence that was developed was analyzed by inductive reasoning and compared to the totality of the circumstances utilizing the investigators’ knowledge, training, and experience. 

“Development of a hypothesis that could withstand the test of reasonableness to the exclusion of all other potential causes to explain the origin and cause of the fire became impossible at that point,” he said. “Crucial data necessary to form the hypothesis was not available because the electrical equipment in the area of origin was rendered inaccessible due to the extensive damage of the structure coupled with the sheer weight and bulk of that equipment.”

According to Lawrence, the dollar loss by fire has not yet been firmly established but indications are that this is the largest dollar loss by fire ever experienced in Ellington, currently estimated in excess of $2 million.