Wrangell Volunteer Fire Department Administrator Aaron Powell on Sept. 17 was disconnecting hoses that were used to battle the Marine Bar fire two days earlier.
WRANGELL - The early morning fire Sept. 15 that destroyed much of the Marine Bar building was started by an "electric heating element" underneath the building, according to a preliminary investigation two days later by the state fire marshal's office.
"The fire is being classified as an accident," Austin McDaniel, communications director for the Department of Public Safety, said Sept. 18.
McDaniel described the heating element as similar to heat tape, used to prevent exposed pipes from freezing. The 60-year-old building is on pilings, with its back to the downtown Inner Harbor.
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