Is online video evidence the fire in Salem was arson?
SALEM, Ore. – Video posted on the Internet has the attention of investigators looking into the cause of an overnight fire that destroyed part of a Salem mini-mall.
Investigators aren't sure yet whether the person who shot and posted the video was joking about throwing fireworks at the building or not.
"I went in there, and I threw a firework, and I thought it was just gonna be a harmless joke," said a male voice on the video, which appears to show firefighters putting out the fire.
The fire marshal hasn't figured out yet how the fire started at the Academy Square strip mall on 1048 Lancaster Drive. The fire was so intense, part of the mini-mall's building collapsed, and a handful of businesses were destroyed or damaged.
Police spotted smoke and flames coming from the building's roof around 11 p.m. Monday.
One of the businesses destroyed belonged to Andrew Roth. He’s already suffered through four years of a bad economy since he bought his paint business.
"We do have insurance, but we're really unsure at this point what's all damaged and everything like that," he said. "They chopped the building up pretty good and sprayed a lot of water in it."
Rent paid by storeowners helped fund the Salem Academy Private Christian School in back of the mall. The school may lose some money from the fire but not nearly what storeowners will.
"And I feel so bad about the people that are involved here in these businesses because of the fact that some of them probably won't recover," said Merle Fadenrecht with Salem Academy Development Company.
Roth is trying to figure out how he'll put his business back together and keep paying his employees. But among all this destruction, he is grateful.
"Very thankful that nobody got hurt, first of all, and that it's not as bad as it could have been," he said.
Roth said he may not be able to wait until the fire investigation is finished and the mall rebuilds. He may have to move to another location in order to stay afloat.
The mall was closed Monday for New Year's Eve, but there were workers inside one part of the building that houses a meat market up until 8 p.m.
Crews will bring in heavy equipment Wednesday to start pulling out the building's collapsed roof so fire investigators can get into the building to track down what caused the fire.
The "electronic DNA" of said Video can and will be traced especially if the Camera has a GPS tied into it. there is a lot more data then jsut the video that goes out when the video is posted..IMAC address of router, IP address , and much much more. and other data is embedded as ell. hard to say what data is stripped or remains in tact when up loaded and then re-encoded. it won't be long before the person is caught and questioned.
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 @swimbad ??
 @Playanekes There was a link to go with that but I screwed it up.
 @Sundowner  @Gravity Works! Sounds about right.. But there's always something "fishy" smelling about fishbait..
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It doesn't surprise me he's pulling this elsewhere also!
 @Gravity Works! Nah, I haven't swallowed the bait and know exactly who he is.  I notice several on 'another site' are trying to get rid of him....he's running with about 5 monikers right now.
 @Sundowner Don't take Manic Pedophile so seriously!  Manic is just a FishBait sock puppet, trolling for suckers.  You, too, have just swallowed the bait.
 @Manic Peddy Has anyone mentioned your feet are too small for those tacky shoes?  Like most things in your life, you need a bigger....yeah.  How's that big whopping PERS pension of yours doing these days?  Maybe we can get together later, smoke a few cigs and talk about investment opportunities for you...ever hear of Amway?