Crews battle fire at RI House Speaker Shekarchi’s law office in Warwick
Shekarchi says his law office is a complete loss.
WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE)- Officials are investigating what caused a serious fire to tear through a Warwick office building Tuesday night, at the office of Rhode Island House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi.
The fire broke out in a complex on College View Court and College Hill Road around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Crews remained on scene into the early hours of Wednesday monitoring hot spots and cleaning up debris.
Officials say luckily no one was hurt.
On Wednesday Joseph Shekarchi spoke out for the first time, outside the Veterans Auditorium before the House session. Shekarchi says all 8 units inside the building, which did not all belong to him, were destroyed.
Shekarchi adds he has been practicing law in that building for 30 years and it’s unsettling to know it’s now gone. He reiterated his gratitude for the first responders and how thankful he is that no one was hurt.
When asked if anyone in the Speaker’s life- personal or political- has made any threats recently to him, Shekarchi responded ‘none whatsoever’. He adds in the meantime he is not making any assumptions into a cause and is allowing investigators to make that conclusion.
“What happened last night will not affect what’s gonna happen at the State House. We’re going to continue with the people’s business… that will not change,” Shekarchi says.
Tuesday night, Speaker Shekarchi released the following statement:
“I thank the Warwick fire and police departments and the state fire marshal’s office for their excellence and professionalism. I am so grateful no one was in the building and that there were no injuries sustained in fighting the fire. I have no idea about the cause and don’t want to speculate. I will let the professionals do their jobs.”
At this time officials have not determined what caused this fire. The investigation remains ongoing.
This is a developing news story and will be updated with more information when it becomes available.
