Zanesville Fire Department Release Cause of Fire at the Masonic Temple

MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio- After a lengthy investigation officials have determined the cause of the historic Masonic Temple fire as accidental.

At a press conference earlier this afternoon, Zanesville Fire Department, Assistant Chief Doug Hobson, released the details of what caused the January 6th fire that destroyed the historic building and housed several artist studios and businesses.

“An occupant had taken a dish towel, heated it up in the microwave, moistened it first, put it in a microwave, but didn’t get it completely moistened. So, what happens when that’s in a microwave for a long period of time as up to three minutes the temperature rises in that rag and that rag becomes a combustible material. The rag was taken out of the microwave, thought it was cool, discarded it in a trash can and unfortunately the trash can caught on fire,” Hobson stated.

One individual has been charged with obstruction of official business and falsification, which both are misdemeanors, however, Hobson was not able to release the name of this person. 

During the conference, Hobson also thanked those like SEAT Bus who helped with keeping the firefighter warm on the buses during the time of the fire and other local organizations.

“The support staff was amazing out of the city of Zanesville, Muskingum County, the Zanesville Police Department, and the Muskingum County Sheriff’s office,” Hobson said. “Again, we’d like to thank our neighboring departments. We had New Concord, Newton Township and Falls Township all with ladders at all four corners of the building and then Washington Township was also an interior crew working with us.”

Hobson said now that the cause has been released to the public he hopes that the community can use this as closure to heal.