We have done a cause and origin investigation but don’t have a specific cause.”

Hastings Fire Chief John Townsend

Information regarding the Lions Park warming house fire can be provided at the hotline at 1-800-723-2020.

After a fire burned down the Lions Park warming house the morning of Aug. 25, 2024, the Hastings Fire Department began investigating the source of the fire. On Wednesday, Aug. 29, Hastings Fre Department investigators put up a sign near the now-burnt wreckage of the warming house saying, “this fire suspected to be the result of arson,” with a tip hotline offering rewards up to $5,000 for information leading to the identification of responsible parties.
While Hastings Fire Chief John Townsend is quick to point out that the cause of the fire is still undetermined, arson is among the causes currently being considered.
“We have done a cause and origin investigation but don’t have a specific cause,” he said.
Despite the sign, arson is merely “one possibility,” said Townsend, with the sign meant to solicit more information from the community.
According to Townsend, investigators with the fire department look for “patterns that the fire leaves” in order to determine an area of origin of the fire. Once the area of origin is determined, investigators look for potential causes of the fire like mechanical or electrical equipment or places one might dispose of cigarettes.
For the Lions Park warming house, the area of origin of the fire is “pretty well consumed,” said Townsend, a factor of the fire able to get so big which Townsend attributes in part to the time of night in which it occurred.
The sign put up by investigators comes from the Minnesota Arson Reward Project, the Minnesota chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI). The Minnesota IAAI is a not for profit professional organization with the mission, “to unite for mutual benefit those public officials and private persons engaged in the control of arson and kindred crimes,” according to their website.
The Minnesota Arson Reward Project began in 1977 and provides an incentive structure that offers several tiers of payments for information about arson fires. The highest tier, $2,000-$5,000 “is information or assistance that leads to the arrest of person(s) on a charge of arson,” according to their website. Two lower tiers exist including a $2,000 reward for information “in a meritorious situation with no requirement that the information lead to an arrest,” as well as a smaller reward for information that could prevent incendiary fires or aid in catching a person who set one.
Information regarding the Lions Park warming house fire can be provided at the hotline at 1-800-723-2020.