MISSISSIPPI COURTHOUSE DESTROYED; ARSON SUSPECTED IN CHARLESTON FIRE

CHARLESTON -- Mississippi County officials met Monday to weigh options of where to carry on county government after an early-morning fire destroyed the 96-year-old Mississippi County Courthouse.

Arson is suspected.

County officials didn't reach a decision on where to conduct county business during a meeting of the Mississippi County Commission late Monday. Several possibilities were discussed.

The fire was reported about 4:15 a.m. Monday, said Mike Seibert, Charleston's director of public safety. Firefighters from six departments responded to the fire. Officials with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were called in.

Butch Amann, a fire investigator with the state fire marshal's office, said the fire apparently started on the second floor but it was too early to determine a cause.

The entire second floor of the courthouse, including the courtroom, prosecuting attorney's office, judge's chambers, and the offices of probation, public administrator, juvenile services and jail visitation were destroyed.

"We haven't made any determination yet, but we have some suspicious circumstances that have led us to believe we've got to dig into this further," said Amann.

Amann said it would take two or three days to investigate the cause. About 30 officers from the AFT's national response team -- the same team that investigated the Oklahoma City federal building bombing -- were to begin an investigation today, he said.

It was the second fire in Charleston early Monday. About 30 minutes before the courthouse broke out in flames, firefighters responded to a fire in a storage building about four blocks away at the Rowling-Moxley Co. While they were there a report of the courthouse fire was received.

Investigators are looking into the possibility that the fires are connected.

No one was hurt in the courthouse fire. Twenty-two prisoners from the adjoining county jail were evacuated. They were escorted across the street to Charleston City Hall to be held and then taken back to the jail shortly after noon.

The red-brick, two-story building, topped with a white dome, was built in 1901 on the town square. It had burned once before in 1938 during a remodeling accident.

The building was insured for $1.4 million, said Jim Blumenberg, Mississippi County presiding commissioner. It was in the process of undergoing $800,000 in renovations, he said.

They were refurbishing some of the woodwork and flooring, and building an elevator to meet American Disabilities Act standards, he said.

"It's disappointing," Blumenberg said. "It was an old building with a lot of character."

County officials were hopeful that records were intact on computer disks in the treasurer's office and at a local bank.

"I hope all of our files have been saved, but all the reassessments, I'm afraid, are destroyed," County Assessor Norma Skaggs said. "We will have to begin all over again with those."

Circuit Clerk Junior DeLay said voter registration, financial records, tax records and the recorder's office's records were kept on master computer tapes that could be accessed through the nearby New Madrid County Courthouse.

Dottie McKenzie, deputy court clerk, said she had managed to get some of the original records from her office as did Sandra Smoot, county treasurer. Smoot recovered the county checkbooks and deposit slips.

The town of 5,000 mourned the loss of the historic building.

"It's a big loss, a landmark," said City Manager Herb Llewellyn. "If you're used to rural America, the old county courthouse is pretty much a fixture. This was one of those: It had an old clock in the belltower and it was quite a beautiful building."

Some information for this story was provided by the Associated Press.