ATF: Cause of BLM Office Fire ‘Undetermined’

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has completed its investigation into the cause of a fire at the Bureau of Land Management Challis Field Office Building earlier this week.

In a press release, the ATF said it can not “conclusively determine the cause of the fire but have no evidence of an added accelerate in the BLM field office fire”.

ATF investigators spent two days conducting interviews, recovering debris and sifting through the debris looking for a cause.

The Custer County Sheriffs Office said the fire was reported at 1:54 Tuesday morning by the Challis Volunteer Fire Department. The fire department put out the fire quickly, but the Bureau of Land Management building was still heavily damaged.

25 employees work at the office. The BLM has back up plans for short-term situations, but since the building is so damaged, the employees will need a longer term plan for their winter work.