Spontaneous combustion may have sparked Cafritz fire
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
October 20, 2009
On the Cafritz investigationD.C. fire investigators are eyeing oil-soaked paper goods that might have spontaneously combusted as the accidental cause of the Chain Bridge Road blaze that destroyed the home of Peggy Cooper Cafritz, District leaders said Monday.» Last cooking was done six hours before fire.
» Smoking materials found in trash can belonged to the homeowner.
» Home was secured with no signs of forced entry and no evidence of malicious intent.
The final investigative report issued by the fire department's Fire Investigations Unit ruled out arson, as well as electrical, mechanical and natural heat sources as the cause of the July 29 fire. "Smoking materials" found in a trash can were placed there several days before the incident, according to the report.
Investigators keyed on "linseed oil-soaked paper towels" left in a plastic trash bag on the northeast corner of the east porch, outside the 15,000-square-foot, $5.2 million home at 3030 Chain Bridge. The housekeeper used linseed oil to treat the Cafritzes' patio furniture, according to the report, and the butler "states it was normal practice to leave trash bags on the east porch."
Linseed oil is commonly used as a wood finish. Experts say spontaneous combustion is possible if oil-soaked material oxidizes, resulting in increasing heat.
The paper towels, said D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles, "could very well have spontaneously combusted." But the cause will remain unofficial because the hypothesis lacks "scientific certainty."
"That's the way that it'll go down in the books," Fire Chief Dennis Rubin said during a press conference outside Engine Co. 20.
The Cafritz blaze raised serious questions about the capacity of fire hydrants on Chain Bridge Road and other sections of Washington where topography, lack of cross streets or aging water pipe infrastructure may hinder firefighters. As Cafritz's home burned, firefighters struggled to find and connect to nearby hydrants with adequate water flow. They eventually ran hoses to hydrants one mile away.
Among the "progress" made since the fire, according to the Fenty administration:
The fire department now has access, via GIS mapping software, of the location and water flow of every main and public hydrant.
During large fires, fire commanders have access to Water and Sewer Authority experts by phone.
Battalion chiefs are training in water supply management and reading water maps.
"Thank goodness they're finally doing the training," said at-large D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson, chairman of the public safety committee. "God knows the rank and file would like to be able to put out fires."
