WARWICK –– Six weeks after a Buttonwoods Avenue house fire killed five
people, the cause of the fire remains under investigation by the state fire
marshal’s office.
Chief Deputy State Fire Marshal Richard James said the fire marshal’s office
is working with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
to see if their findings corroborate those of the fire marshal’s office, he
said. The fire marshal’s office has sent items recovered from the fire for
testing at the state’s lab while ATF, he said, will send samples to its
out-of-state laboratory.
James estimated it could take six weeks for results to come back from the
ATF tests.
In the days after the Feb. 6 fire, officials said they pinpointed where the
fire originated and said they believed the fire was not suspicious.
On Feb. 18, a Kent County Superior Court judge allowed a private
investigator for some of the victims’ family members to examine the residence
at
Lackey; Amanda L. Villeneuve, 21; Villeneuve’s 7-month-old daughter
Annabelle; Villeneuve’s fiancé and Annabelle’s father, Daniel Janik, 20, of
The City of