Colorado and ATF investigators find no evidence of arson in Nederland shopping center fire
A sense of relief washed over Nederland one week after a huge fire devastated the Caribou Village Shopping Center, as investigators announced they had found no credible evidence that the fire was intentionally set.
"It makes me feel good that it's not suspicious. But it's still a little heartbreaking because it's home," said Nederland resident Brittany Olson. "You've been to every one of these businesses; it's just so sad," she said of the fire.
In a statement released by the Boulder County Sheriff's investigators led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives state, "The final determination of the origin and cause of the fire remains pending, based on the outcome of evidence submitted for laboratory testing and analysis.""At this point the ATF will be going through data whether it's video surveillance, interviews and then some of the samples that they've pulled off the scene," said Nederland Fire Protection District Chief Charlie Schmidtmann. "It'll take us months to get through this and part of the government shutdown's not really going to help with part of getting the lab work done and so I'm expecting this to take over six months."
Schmidtmann said the ATF had over 20 investigators at the scene collecting evidence and video and interviewing people. That team, working without pay, has now moved on, some to Tennessee, where they will investigate last week's blast at an explosives factory.
The burned scene was turned over by the ATF to the chief, who then turned it over to the property owner. Insurance investigators were still at the scene Thursday.
"The property owner will work with the insurance company. Their own insurance company, and then they'll also be working with the insurance companies for each individual business owner," said Schmidtmann. The landlord had required insurance so businesses were insured, but there are worries that there won't be enough coverage.
An online fundraising campaign is underway to help get the 18 affected businesses back in business.
Schmidtmann says he expects business owners may want to sift through their damaged businesses to recover anything salvageable, but the property may have to be stabilized before their entry.
"As a small business owner, my heart goes out to the small businesses in this plaza. I can only imagine coming home to that news, finding out that my livelihood is gone," said Chris Clark, who was looking at the damage Thursday.
"It's not just money. But it's the employees and the time you put into it. The break in your routine," he explained. "Every day I've got a thing to do. If that happens, then what do you do?"
There may be temporary locations set up by some businesses. There isn't a great deal of available retail space in town. Those steps will come next. Rebuilding the burned plaza could take years. But with one big question addressed, there may be a little less concern.
"I'm so relieved, because there were a lot of rumors," said Celeste Daron, who lives close by and had to evacuate her home during the fire.
"I think the big thing here is knowing that this wasn't intentional and that there's not somebody out running around causing fires," said Schmidtmann.
