“Accidental or undetermined.”

That’s the official determination, according to the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal investigating the blaze that destroyed Warren Tire Center on Warren’s east side last week.

The fire broke out in the early morning hours of Thursday, June 14, and continued to burn into the evening. Adding to the intensity and the longevity of the fire, according to City of Warren Fire Chief Sam Pascuzzi, were around 3,000 tires in an outbuilding and around 2,200 gallons of waste oil in the main structure.

Because of the tires, Pascuzzi said, the fire required an excavator to deliver water to ongoing spot fires that burned well into Thursday.

The presence of that equipment and other debris has contributed to the final determination of the cause of the fire being “accidental or undetermined.”

According to the state fire marshal, “while we may have a cause in the future, as of right now all I can say is that there is no arson and the cause is accidental or undetermined. There’s just way too much debris” to make a ruling beyond that.

The insurance company covering the building, he said, may conduct their own investigation but as far as his investigation concerned, “I closed it out (Monday) morning.”

The potential for contamination of the Allegheny River from the fire prompted the placement of an absorbent United Refining Company boom across the water at the Starbrick boat launch. The fire was intense enough to melt siding on one house across the street.

Hazmat cleaning was required in order to reopen Pennsylvania Ave. in front of the building following the fire due to the amount of oil.