Illinois Police Say Second Fire At County Office Building Was ``Incendiary''
The Fire Department has ruled out electrical causes in the June 25 fire, spokesman Larry Langford said Tuesday.
The blaze at 17 N. State St. raised suspicion because of similarities to an Oct. 17 fire at the Cook County Administration Building that killed six people.
The June fire did not cause any injuries, but like the deadly blaze, it started minutes before 5 p.m. on a Friday. Both started in space used by the Illinois secretary of state's office, although the two were in separate buildings.
The June fire was the fourth blaze in a secretary of state's office in Chicago since 1999, officials said.
A fire on Sept. 20, 1999, at 17 N. State St. and Sept. 11, 2002, in the secretary of state's warehouse were both tracked to electrical problems, Langford said.
Police and Chicago Fire Department investigators have struggled to reach consensus on the cause of October's fatal fire.
The Fire Department ruled the fatal fire was incendiary, meaning it was started by a human, either on purpose or by accident. Police Department investigators have not yet determined whether the blaze was arson.
A Cook County panel probing the fire ruled the cause ``undetermined,'' but said there was little proof the fire was started by a human.