ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290081
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
Radford's commonwealth's attorney says the early-morning fire that killed a Radford University senior apparently was not set.
Randal Duncan, who also sits on the Radford University Board of Visitors, says no accelerants - flammable substances that could speed the spread of fire - were found. He spoke after consulting with a Radford police investigator who had received a laboratory report of evidence found at the scene.
Cigarette butts and sawdust were found in a trash can on the back porch, where the fire may have started, Duncan said. Earlier this week, city Fire Marshal Calvin Whitt said a gasoline-filled can containing used paint brushes was found in the kitchen of the house, next to the back porch.
"At this point, it appears to us to be a tragic accident," Jonny Butler, deputy chief of the Radford Police Department, said of the fire that killed Christopher T. Mirch of Centreville in Fairfax County.
"We have done our level best to determine if there has been foul play, and have been unable to turn up anything."
But Butler said the Police Department welcomes any information regarding the case.
State Police Special Agent Gus Necessary said Wednesday that he still has not determined the cause of the fire, and is awaiting laboratory results.
Mirch, 21, is to be buried today in Fairfax.
LENGTH: Short : 34 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB