Seven weeks after a 4-year-old boy was found dead inside an east Erie residence that caught fire, investigators are still awaiting word from federal authorities on what might have set off the blaze.
Evidence collected from the scene of the Sept. 6 fire at 542 E. Fourth St. was sent to the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for examination shortly after the early-morning fire where emergency responders found 4-year-old Julian Roberts dead.
As of Wednesday, local officials were still awaiting word on the results of that examination, said Don Sauer, chief fire investigator for the Erie Bureau of Fire.
The evidence was sent to the ATF because the federal agency has more resources to examine it and potentially determine a cause to the fire, Sauer said previously. But he said Wednesday that, the last he had heard, someone with the federal agency from Minnesota was to travel to Maryland to help in the evidence examination.
The Erie Bureau of Police, which is also involved in the investigation into the Sept. 6 fire, is awaiting the results of the investigation into the fire’s cause, Deputy Chief Rick Lorah said Wednesday.
What happened in the fire?
The fire was reported shortly after 1 a.m. on Sept. 6 at 542 E. Fourth St. City fire officials said they arrived on scene to find fire coming from the front of the house, and firefighters who entered the residence found Julian on the second floor.
An 11-year-old boy was also inside the residence but was helped out through a window by bystanders, officials reported. He suffered reported minor injuries.
No adults were reportedly in the home when the fire broke out, according to investigators.
Julian was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:27 a.m. Sept. 6, according to the Erie County Coroner’s Office. Coroner Lyell Cook said the boy died of burn injuries.
The preliminary investigation determined the fire started in the home’s living room, authorities reported.
Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNhahn.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Fatal house fire: Erie investigators await ATF evidence exam in
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