Indeed.
Remarkable timing for a young leftist arsonist to take such bold action -
All the historic furnishings and heirlooms had been removed from the mansion for the renovation project. Among the improvement projects were an overhaul of the plumbing, removal of lead paint and asbestos and installation of a fire sprinkler system. The gov out of the country...
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AUSTIN – The perfect storm of a poorly trained state trooper, faulty surveillance equipment, and security procedures tripped up by renovations contributed to this month’s destructive fire at the Texas Governor’s Mansion, a Department of Public Safety sergeant investigating the incident said Thursday.
Sgt. Michael Escalante told the state Public Safety Commission that damage from arson, which nearly gutted the 152-year-old building, might have been avoided if there had been more or better-prepared troopers on duty at the mansion, and if security equipment had not malfunctioned.
As it was, he said, a single, poorly trained trooper who had already worked an eight-hour shift at an Austin history museum was on duty at the mansion. Seven of 20 security cameras were broken. Motion detectors weren’t engaged, because officers were under the false impression that they didn’t work while the mansion was undergoing repairs.
“With the cameras improperly working, with the beams inactivated, there should’ve been additional personnel on the ground, a second set of eyes,” said Sgt. Escalante, who did the review at the commission’s request. “It was a combination of things.”
Sgt. Escalante also revealed that an off-duty police officer in the area at the time of the blaze (around 2 am Sunday morning!) saw a man bolting away from the governor’s mansion, jumping into a car and making a u-turn. The police officer found a lighter on the ground near where the man was standing, and turned it in as evidence...cont'd
http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/061908kvuePublicSafety-cb.1b4532c4.html------
That part about finding the lighter reminds me of the story after 9/11 of finding one of the
'terrorists' passports in the debris. That's the FBI for ya.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1571/is_2003_June_24/ai_103603756