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April 26, 2010
On Tuesday, March 23, 2010, the Fire Investigation Unit and three (03)
ATF Special Agents responded to a Triple Three Alarm at 9606 Euclid
Avenue. Upon our arrival the Church was fully involved with fire. Our
Unit with the assistance of Cleveland Clinic Police identified and
interviewed several civilian witnesses, Law Enforcement Officers and
Division of Fire personnel.
All of the witness information received was reviewed, analyzed and
determined credible, as it was consistent with our observations of the
fire scene. One witness observed a bolt of lightning, heard a loud
boom and seconds later saw a small fire on the tip of the north-west
steeple of the Church. All of the other civilian witnesses reported
seeing fire on the roof of the church within minutes of the lightning
strike and the loud roar of thunder.
The first arriving Law Enforcement Officer reported observing fire on
the roof of the church. He reported he did not observe any fire on the
interior of the church through the first or second floor windows. The
Division of Fire’s Fire Dispatch Center notified Division of Fire
Units of the fire at 0037 hours (1237 AM) and the first arriving
Division of Fire personnel arrived at 0040 hours and 29 seconds.
The first arriving Unit reported the roof of the church was well
involved with fire and there was no fire observed on the interior of
the church. At (0100) hours, a surveillance camera located on a
building just north of the Church showed a full frontal view of the
Church. The fire was consuming the roof at this time, but did not
display any fire on the interior of the Church.
After considering the totality of the evidence, the cause of the fire
was classified as an ACT OF NATURE and specifically lightning as the
source of ignition. There was one more available resource I decided to
request because of the high-profile nature of this incident. I
requested the ATF to acquire a National Lightning Detection Network
Report to corroborate our findings.
This Network can detect lightning strikes within 500 feet of a
specific address. The results of this Report indicated there were four
(04) Cloud-to-Ground lightning strikes within two minutes of the fire
and within 500 feet of the Church. This information is accurate within
a 99% certainty according to the Report.
In closing, I hope this information is capable of assisting you in
providing closure to the cause of this incident. If I can be of
further assistance please advise.
Michael A. Odum, Battalion Chief
The Fire Investigation Unit, OIC, 216-664-6380
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