Smoking Materials Likely Cause of Flight 93 Memorial Fire

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SHANKSVILLE, Pa. — Feb 6, 2016, 7:04 PM ET

Discarded smoking material is strongly suspected as the cause of a 2014 fire that struck the Flight 93 National Memorial, according to a report released Saturday.

The National Park Service report also said landscaping mulch that was too close to the building and flammable decking material hastened the spread of the October 2014 fire, which destroyed three of four buildings at the former memorial headquarters.

Several weeks after the fire, state police fire investigators noted that while there was no obvious ignition source, "a cigar/cigarette disposed of in the mulch bed could not be ruled out," the report said.

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The blaze destroyed hundreds of original photographs and items found at the crash site that were linked to the passengers and crew of the plane as well as a flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijackers commandeered four planes, flying two into the World Trade Center towers and one into the Pentagon. The passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, going from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco, fought back, and the plane crashed in an abandoned strip mine, killing all aboard.

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