Federal Report: Cause of South Carolina Furniture Store Fire Unclear

July 11, 2008

A federal report says the cause of the fire at a South Carolina furniture store which claimed the lives of nine Charleston firefighters remains unknown.

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The report released July 9 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives concludes discarded cigarettes or someone lighting materials at the loading dock of the Sofa Super Store were likely causes of the June 2007 blaze.

A report released in May by a panel of experts hired by the city also said discarded smoking materials was the likely cause.

The ATF report says the investigation into the cause of the fire remains open. The deaths were the largest loss of firefighters since the terror attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001.