Investigators: Mission San Gabriel fire probe yields no ‘aha moment’
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Investigators who looked through the burned remains of the church at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel had no “aha moment,” and it may take a week for findings about what caused the devastating early morning blaze, a fire department spokesman said Sunday, July 12.
The 4:45 a.m. Saturday fire destroyed the 249-year-old church’s wooden roof in 15 minutes, and its interior was burned up to the altar. Flames spread quickly because the church’s historical classification prevented the installation of sprinklers, said San Gabriel Fire Department Capt. Antonio Negrete.
Firefighters were forced to retreat when the roof fell around them. No injuries were reported among the 50 firefighters from several agencies who went to the scene.
Historical relics from the mission, stored as it underwent renovation for its 250th anniversary, were spared, as was its bell.
Investigators were at the scene until late Saturday, and likely will not return to the site Sunday, Negrete said.
“They collected what they thought might be pertinent,” he said. “They felt pretty comfortable leaving the scene yesterday.” Investigators can return to the sealed burn area to collect additional evidence if needed, he said.
Archbishop José H. Gomez was scheduled to celebrate Mass in the Mission’s Chapel of the Annunciation Sunday morning.
“It’s going to take about another week, once they continuously meet and discuss all their findings,” Negrete said of the investigators. “They really don’t have anything new — there wasn’t an ‘aha moment’ that they came across.”
He said the investigation includes proving and disproving — in the latter, reviewing contrary evidence that may dispel a theory.
The City of San Gabriel issued a statement on Saturday saying, “Though a formal cause has not yet been determined, a preliminary investigation shows no immediate sign of arson.”
The question of arson arose because the mission’s founder, Junipero Serra, who was canonized in 2015, has come under re-examination recently during a surge of focus on social and racial injustice following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes on Memorial Day.
The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was assisting in the probe of the fire “due to the nature of the fire,” Negrete said, referring to the blaze at a church as well as the recent vandalism to Serra statues elsewhere.
Representatives of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are at the scene to investigate the situation. Though a formal cause has not yet been determined, a preliminary investigation shows no immediate sign of arson.https://t.co/IZJAWJIYto pic.twitter.com/a1GvePMn86
— San Gabriel Police Department (@SanGabrielPD) July 11, 2020
A dog from the Los Angeles Fire Department was also on the scene Saturday, sniffing to see if any accelerants were used to start the fire, Negrete said.
Protesters have demanded the removal of monuments to Serra and in some cases vandalized them. They said Serra was an agent of Spanish colonialism which contributed to the killing and enslavement of thousands of native people. The California Bishop’s Conference has described Serra as pressing the Spanish authorities to better treat Native American communities.
Serra’s statue at the San Gabriel Mission was vandalized in 2017. Church staff had recently removed a statue of Serra from public view and put it in safe storage, Negrete said.
The mission had been closed to visitors, and no services had been held since March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The church was to have reopened to the public on July 18.
The rectory where priests stay and the museum, both in separate buildings from the church, did not catch fire, Negrete said.
City News Service contributed to this report