Well, this certainly comes as no big surprise. As predicted yesterday:
Police: Penner's Place fire is suspected arson
BUZZARDS BAY - The fire that destroyed Penner's Place on Main Street early yesterday was intentionally set, investigators believe.
The news came in a joint announcement this afternoon by State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan and Bourne Fire Chief Charles Klueber.
A fire gutted a landmark between 1:20 a.m., when the last employee left, and 2:30 a.m. when fire trucks arrived. No one was injured, but the two-alarm blaze at Penner's Place on Main Street caused at least an estimated $500,000 in damage.
If anybody saw anything in the area between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m., or hears anything about the crime, please call the Bourne Fire Department, 508-759-4412 - or the Arson Hotline - 1-800-682-9229, toll-free, 24 hours a day, officials repeated today. Insurance companies offer rewards of up to $5,000 for information that helps solve arson cases.
"All calls will be kept confidential," Coan said in today's press release.
"Arson fires frequently burned undetected long enough to get a big head start on suppression efforts," Chief Klueber said. "This is an example of where fire sprinklers might have made a difference and controlled the fire long enough for the fire department to save the building."
The Penner's Place blaze is Bourne's fourth restaurant fire ands in about a year and the second arson. The three others were The Bridge in January 2005, Quintal's Seafood in June and Hollyberry's in November. The Bridge fire was determined to be arson.
- By the Cape Cod Times
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