Arson suspected in massive fire at Texas courthouse
MASON, Texas (AP) — A suspect has been arrested been taken into custody pursuing a substantial hearth that wrecked all but the rock outer walls of an 111-yr-old Texas courthouse, an official suggests.
The hearth at the Mason County Courthouse in Mason, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Austin, began Thursday evening. No just one was in the creating. Mason County Decide Jerry Bearden claimed the flames could be noticed from miles away.
“Right now, it really is just a shell,” he told television station KXAN. “It just breaks your heart to appear at it.”
He told The Associated Push on Friday that fire investigators suspect arson in both the courthouse fire and one more blaze around the exact same time at a home about a mile absent.
The Texas Condition Hearth Marshal’s Workplace mentioned in a assertion that it has joined regulation enforcement companies investigating the hearth, but a spokesperson would offer no information on the investigation Friday. The county sheriff has not returned a message from the AP.
The courthouse, created from nearby sandstone, was remaining ready for renovations, so all of the county records experienced been moved out, Bearden explained. He stated only some furnishings were in the building.
He said the firefighters “did their best” but “there was not nearly anything they could genuinely do to hold the flames down.”
Bearden explained the courthouse’s bell tower, which highlighted a clock, was wrecked.
“It’s just a terrible tragedy for the people listed here in the county,” Bearden explained. “This is the focal issue in our local community, our county.”
Bearden stated officers will have an engineer examine the outer partitions in hopes of at some point rebuilding the “grand previous lady.”
Mason County has a population of about 4,300.
