Fire destroys Governor's Mansion

[KeithnFW]

AUSTIN, TEXAS (KXAN)--The smell of heavy smoke blankets downtown Austin, TX as firefighters manage hot-spots from a fire that has completely gutted the Governor's Mansion.

Dawn Clopton from the Austin Fire Department reports that the main fire is now officially out, and that a "good part of the structure is left." The roof of the mansion's second story has partially collapsed, so Austin firefighters are working with structural engineers in order to gain safe access inside the structure. Fire crews are also working with the state preservation office in order to salvage as much of the historic Greek Revival style structure as possible.

Firefighters responded to the mansion at 1:45am Sunday, June 8, 2008. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Updated to add: 11:02 a.m. Paul Maldonado with the State Fire Marshal's Office now says that investigators have found evidence that the fire at the Governor's Mansion was intentionally set.

Governor Rick Perry and First Lady Anita Perry were traveling in Europe at the time of the fire. The Governor moved out of the mansion in October of 2007 so a $10 million dollar construction project could begin in January 2008; ironically, construction crews were to install a fire suppression system inside the 152 year-old building.

All of the historical furniture and artwork had been removed from the building and placed in storage for the renovations. The kitchen was the only room with items remaining.

More than 100 firefighters battled the mansion fire throughout the night. Battalion Chief Buck Palmer told KXAN Austin News that "our first units arrived to find heavy fire coming from the front porch... the first alarm companies, encountered heavy fire in both the second story and the second story veranda. They pulled back out and at one point had a small collapse, went to a second alarm, third alarm, now we're at a fourth alarm the fire is being fought defensively - that means the firefighters are fighting from the outside."

Construction work inside the mansion has also complicated the firefight according to Battalion Chief Palmer who says "the problem is a building that is 152 years old has been remodeled several times, which means all types of hidden spaces." Originally a 6,000 square foot home, the mansion has been remodeled and added on throughout the years and is now over 8,000 square feet with 25 rooms and 7 bathrooms.

The last major construction project at the mansion was in 1914.

Fire Marshall takes over scene

The State Fire Marshal's office has taken over the scene at the Governor's Mansion - they're now in charge of the investigation to determine the cause of the fire. As such, the roads closed in the area - 10th, 11th, Lavaca, and Colorado - will remain closed for at least the next few hours.

Mansion History

Construction on the Texas Governor's Mansion began in 1854. Bad weather delayed construction, and the mansion opened six months behind schedule on June 14, 1856. Master builder Abner Cook built the mansion in the Greek Revival architectural style. The original mansion blueprint included 6,000 square feet and was divided into 11 rooms and no bathrooms inside the main house. In 1914, the mansion's only major structural change occurred with the addition of a Conservatory. The 1914 construction increased the mansion's footprint to 8.920 square feet, with 25 rooms and 7 bathrooms.

To date, 40 governors have occupied the mansion. It is the fourth oldest governor's mansion in the United States that has been continuously occupied by a chief executive.

Source: Texas Governor's Office

[Jenny Z]

Oh no!!! :( I'm always saddened by the loss of old buildings... that's tragic.

[Roadrnr]

WOW. That's crazy! The fact that is sounds like it's arson really angers me...I hope the find the person(s) that did this!

[LDB]

I hate the loss of any historic building. As a native Texan I'm especially unhappy about this one. If it's arson as suspected I'm ESPECIALLY unhappy about it and depending on circumstances wouldn't object to the arsonist being hung from the big oak outside.

[TXhummer2]

Texans! Gather!

[ggeen]

Originally Posted by TXhummer2

Texans! Gather!

Dare I say it..."remember the Alamo!"

-G

[Murph]

I hope they catch whomever did this, and throw the book at them. Although a local Judge was a certified Arson prosecutor told me that Arson is almost impossible to prosecute.

[Summer Ball]

True Murph. I work for a S.O. here in N. Texas, and I was heavily involved in a 2003 arson case, where a wife set her house on fire, to kill here soon to be ex husband. As far as cases go, this was the most interesting case I've ever been part of. After 5 years, we finally took it to trial. This case was all over the DFW news a couple of months ago. The wife wanted her husbands life insurance policy. The Jury took 2 hours to find her guilty, and 7 hours to give her 88 years in the pen.

Sorry to go off topic..

[ka5txl]

I just hope that when they rebuild that the Gov doesn't sell it to a Spanish Company with a lease back deal like they tried to do with a toll road here!

[David_3]

I hate to hear this. We lose too many historical buildings to weather and poor maintenance. There are a lot of sick people running loose in this world.

[brad]

There have been a lot of people upset with Perry and the amount of money he was spending on renovations... but if that was the motivating factor here....

[ka5txl]

And of course we will be picking up the tab, not only for the now more extensive rebuilding but also for the 10k a month WE shell out for the rent house that the gov lives in now. I guess it's good to be king, opps I'm mean govenor.

[amadjuster]

Originally Posted by ka5txl

And of course we will be picking up the tab, not only for the now more extensive rebuilding but also for the 10k a month WE shell out for the rent house that the gov lives in now. I guess it's good to be king, opps I'm mean govenor.

We could always do what Arkansas did - use a TRIPLE WIDE mobile home Only in Arkansas.

[amadjuster]

Originally Posted by Summer Ball

True Murph. I work for a S.O. here in N. Texas, and I was heavily involved in a 2003 arson case, where a wife set her house on fire, to kill here soon to be ex husband. As far as cases go, this was the most interesting case I've ever been part of. After 5 years, we finally took it to trial. This case was all over the DFW news a couple of months ago. The wife wanted her husbands life insurance policy. The Jury took 2 hours to find her guilty, and 7 hours to give her 88 years in the pen.

Sorry to go off topic..

I'll bet that she was convicted for attempted murder. It is a loosing proposition to prosecute for arson because without injuries, Texas juries just will not convict. You can have someone running out of a burning building with a lit torch in one hand and a gas can in the other hand yelling, "I did it, I did it" and the jury will come back with a Not Guilty - It happened in Wellington, Texas several years ago. Juries just think an insurance company is involved and the poor guy setting the fire must have a good reason. They are now pursued for mail fraud.

[Summer Ball]

No---You are wrong in this case. I have absolute first hand knoweldge on this issue since I spent the whole week and half in trial. she was found guilty of Arson. It was too difficult to charge her with murder, because with Murder, you have to prove intent. That is why we charged her with Arson and not murder. With arson, you only had to prove she started a fire. Arson is a broad catagory. Since someone was killed in the fire, it was bumped to a first degree felony.