‘Clear indicators of arson’ in Bidwell Mansion fire. Officials ask for help finding suspects
Fire investigators believe the blaze that destroyed historic Bidwell Mansion was caused by arson, although they still don’t know who started the fire.
Investigators “are positive that there are clear indicators of arson,” said Aaron Wright, chief of the northern Butte District of California State Parks, at a news conference Tuesday outside of the mansion.
“This was an intentional act and we can confidently rule out any accidental fire that happened here.”
The condition of the building and whether it’s salvageable has not been determined, Wright said. The ultimate decision of what to do with the building comes down to a number of community stakeholders and will not be decided while the arson investigation remains ongoing.
“This is a national landmark so there will be quite a few conversations of what the community wants, what we can do,” he said.
The fire that destroyed it was called in the early morning hours of Dec. 11 and consumed the building in flames before firefighters put it out. The building remained smoldering through the day and has remained under investigation since.
On Saturday, state parks officials began using an excavator to continue their survey of the mansion’s hulking remains.
“The excavator will remove destroyed components of the building to allow investigators greater access to the interior as they continue their investigation,” officials said. “It remains too early to discuss the future of the state historic park.”
Wright declined to answer questions clarifying how investigators determined that arson was the cause, where in the mansion the fire started, what video surveillance investigators have, whether it was a warming fire, or which specific charges a suspect may face in addition to arson.
“At this point, it’s still an active investigation,” he said. “I can’t release what we have, but we’re confident based on all the investigation that’s been done so far and evidence that’s been collected that this is arson.”
Investigators have asked the public for any information or leads related to the fire and shared a QR code that points to an evidence searching webpage at https://calfire.evidence.com/axon/community-request/public/bidwell.
The state fire marshal, Cal Fire’s Butte County unit and the Sierra Regional Arson Task Force are helping parks officials with the investigation.
“At this time we don’t know who did this so we are investigating any leads that we can come up with and that we can find,” Wright said.
This story was originally published December 17, 2024 at 2:20 PM.
