Suspicious package, file cabinet fire sparks investigation at City Hall

The Mount Vernon Building Department reopened Wednesday after a fire and a suspicious device prompted an evacuation at City Hall earlier in the week.

News 12 Staff

Jan 16, 2019, 10:33 PM

Updated 1,927 days ago

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The Mount Vernon Building Department reopened Wednesday after a fire and a suspicious device prompted an evacuation at City Hall earlier in the week.
Just minutes after the all-clear was given for a suspicious package at Mount Vernon City Hall on Monday, the fire department was called to the Building Department on the second floor. They discovered papers inside a file cabinet on fire.
Mount Vernon Fire Commissioner Teddy Beale tells News 12 his team is still investigating the cause of the fire. The charred file cabinets, all wrapped in plastic, are waiting to be hauled out.

The Building Department said a lot was salvaged, but some things were lost due to the fire.
The fire commissioner couldn't confirm if Monday's fire is an arson investigation, but he did confirm that the Westchester County arson team was on scene looking at the file cabinets and looking into the suspicious fire as they do with any fire for which they can’t determine a cause. The other question that remains is what was destroyed.


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