Smoldering cigarette butts dumped into a plastic wastebasket caused the fire that gutted portions of the Idaho State Capitol on New Year's Day, investigators have determined.
"It's completely accidental," Boise Fire Marshal Steve Minnis said Thursday. "It's not a criminal thing."Meanwhile, workers rushed amid crumbled sandstone, melted telephones and charred files today to ready the Statehouse for next week's start of the 1992 legislative session, which was expected to convene as planned.
"There's no question at this point that we can use our respective chambers. The real question is office space," Senate President Pro Tem Michael Crapo said Thursday after meeting with House Speaker Tom Boyd.
"It will cause some administrative problems and some difficulties on the front end, but it shouldn't slow us down appreciably in terms of getting the business of the state accomplished."
With the cleanup under way, state officials started considering restoration of the 80-year-old Capitol. An historic preservation expert was called in to assess the damage.
"It could be a year to a year-and-a-half before the major damage is repaired," said Mike Despot, state building services chief. He estimated damages could reach $1.5 million.
The Capitol is insured, with $100,000 deductible, said Ed Fridenstine of the Bureau of Risk Management.
The fire began Wednesday evening in the small second-floor office of Attorney General Larry EchoHawk's public information officer, Jean McNeil.
The building was nearly vacant at the time, and no one was injured.
McNeil said in a written statement that she smoked three or four cigarettes while working in her office Wednesday. She told investigators she used an ashtray and believed the cigarette butts were cold before she threw them in a wastebasket.
"Despite what I thought was great care, it appears I may be responsible for this tragedy," McNeil said. "We may never know for sure, but if I was indeed responsible I am extremely sorry, and I apologize to the staff of the attorney general's office, to other Statehouse employees and to all the people of Idaho."
EchoHawk called McNeil a "dedicated, loyal employee" who was devastated by the accident.
Smoking is prohibited in public areas of all state buildings but is allowed in private offices unless department heads or elected officials prohibit it.
The fire itself was confined to the second and third floors, gutting much of the attorney general's office and Legislative Budget Office on the northeast side of the Capitol's center section. But most of the Statehouse suffered some smoke or water damage, with soot wafting through the rotunda and water pouring into an underground walkway.
"My concern is that we have historical restoration. We lost a lot of valuable detailing, mahogany detailing, light fixtures and old hardware," state Public Works administrator Anne Barker said. "I think we're looking at the potential of a year to get it all back."
The Capitol has no sprinkler system or smoke alarms because as an historic building, it is not required by law to meet current fire codes, Barker said. But in the wake of the fire, she said the state would look at ways to improve fire safety, including adding a sprinkler system.
Among the historical items destroyed were a painting of the late U.S. Sen. William Borah and a desk that belonged to Gov. Frank Steunenberg, who was assassinated in 1905.
In the Legislative Budget Office, some irreplaceable files that took years to accumulate were lost. Director John Andreason said his staff would do whatever it takes to be ready when the Legislature's budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee convenes Tuesday.
"This is the biggest challenge we've ever had to face, both professionally and emotionally," said Andreason, who has run the office for 21 years. "I was completely shocked and devastated by the amount of damage we sustained."