More time to pinpoint the cause

The Walhalla fire chief says more time will be required before investigators assign a cause for the September fire that heavily damaged the Presbyterian Church on E. Main Street. But Doug Kelley says the cause could be determined in a just a couple of days. “SLED and ATF came back in Friday and started doing some more investigation,” Kelley told 96.3/WGOG NEWS. Walhalla Fire Department Capt. Mark Hollifield has been working closely with those investigators. And Kelley quotes Hollifield as holding out hope that, once they complete tests of some additional fire scene debris, they’ll be in a position this week to render their verdict. According to Kelley, investigators at first expressed confidence that the second floor sound room was the origin for the fire but the cause, so far, has eluded them.