Posted on 06/08/2008 5:52:34 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
Fire destroys Texas governor's mansion
12 minutes ago
Texas state officials say a four-alarm fire has caused "catastrophic" damage to the Texas Governor's Mansion in Austin.
Governor's spokesman Robert Black says said no one was inside the 150-year-old home when the fire began shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday. He says the cause is not yet known.
The mansion had been undergoing a $10 million renovation and Gov. Rick Perry and his wife had moved out last fall.
Black says the damage to the mansion "is extraordinary, bordering on catastrophic."
He says more than 100 firefighters are at the scene and the roof of the mansion is very unstable.
I recommend not feeding hijacking trolls.
It tends to vindicate them in their own minds.
Holy cow! How was this allowed to happen? The Governor’s mansion is right across the street from the Capital grounds right on Congress Ave. in downtown Austin.
I’ve been through the VIP tour of the Governor’s mansion and there is a lot of priceless paintings and historical artifacts in there. Hopefully most were somewhere else during the renovation.
This has to be due to some level of contractor incompetence.
We did that once. The Yankees forced us to rejoin.
We are also the only state that had the absolute legal right to leave. We came in via treaty, since we were a sovereign nation at the time. Everyone else, beyond the original 13, came in as a territory already part of the United States, but not yet a state.
On Saturday night/Sunday morning? Wouldn't think so. Unless it smoldered for a day and a half.
OMG, terrible. Just terrible.
State Fire Marshall says Arson suspected
However the story says that the fire was first reported as being on the front porch, not that it started there.
'joisey'....LOL...no wonder he/she has no state page.....nmh needs to clean up NJ, before attempting to take on TX.
It’s been windy up here in Dallas for at least the past 4 or 5 days. Reeeally windy.
I hope that no firefighters’ lives are being endangered to save an old house.
such a shame!
How old does a house have to be before you decide it's too dangerous to try to save it?
Is it okay to endanger firefighters for new houses?
“...Fire Marshal’s hot line...”
There’s an understatement.
(Toby Keith)
Well a man come on the 6 o’clock news
Said somebody’s been shot, somebody’s been abused
Somebody blew up a building
Somebody stole a car
Somebody got away
Somebody didn’t get too far yeah
They didn’t get too far
Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done
Take all the rope in Texas
Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see that
(Chorus)
Justice is the one thing you should always find
You got to saddle up your boys
You got to draw a hard line
When the gun smoke settles we’ll sing a victory tune
We’ll all meet back at the local saloon
We’ll raise up our glasses against evil forces
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses
We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds
We’ve got too much corruption, too much crime in the streets
It’s time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground
Send ‘em all to their maker and he’ll settle ‘em down
You can bet he’ll set ‘em down ‘cause
FoxNews Update:
AUSTIN, Texas — Arson is suspected in a fire that swept through the historic Texas Governor’s Mansion early Sunday and left much of the 152-year-old home charred and severely damaged, the state fire marshal said.
“We have some evidence that indicates that we do have an intentionally set fire,” said state Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado. “So we believe that we may be looking at a criminal act here.”
Calling it a “devastating loss to the state of Texas,” Maldonado did not offer details on how the fire may have been set or whether authorities had identified a suspect.
Security cameras are set up around the mansion, which sits downtown on a lot the size of a city block, and investigators were interviewing people who were nearby and might have noticed suspicious activity.
“We’re going to come get the person that’s responsible for causing this damage,” Maldonado said
Oh no. I was hoping most of the damage was inside. That doesn’t look repairable.
You from Texas?
Arkansas has a used double wide he can use.
Yep. Sad but let’s get her rebuilt and if arson have the culprit in jail before completion.
Probably someone stealing copper and setting the fire to cover up the theft.
Well thank you, aren’t you nice! Your post made me smile too :) I’m glad to read that everything had been removed from the house (artifacts, historial documents and objects) but still so sorry to see the structure itself so damaged. To think that it might have been deliberately set is even worse than a random accidental fire. If that is the case, I certainly hope that person is caught.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.