What caused the Brockton fire that destroyed 3 businesses? The latest on the investigation

BROCKTON – The fire that destroyed three businesses at 880 Main St. in Brockton in late June is still under investigation, Brockton Fire Chief Brian Nardelli said.

Garcia Grocery & Tropical, Khalil's Kitchen and Studio Sky Beauty Salon were among the businesses destroyed in the three-alarm blaze on Thursday, June 20.

The cause of the fire currently remains undetermined, but Nardelli said it may have started in the back of the building.

"There isn't a definitive answer as of yet," he said.

What caused the fire?

When they arrived at the scene, firefighters witnessed several individuals running from the building that was on fire to safety, although the building is not zoned for residential living, the chief said.

City officials found multiple beds inside the building. But building manager Aysha, who declined to provide her last name, said no one lives in the building, despite a washer and dryer installation, multiple beds, a stove on the property and people running out at 3 a.m. from the blaze.

She said the people running out of the scene were "employees who do Uber."

"There were beds in the basement. We weren't sure if they were being used, but it's not zoned for residential use," Nardelli said. "We did see people running out of the basement at three in the morning when we arrived, indicating there might be people living there, but we don't know for sure."

Currently, the fire department is waiting for a wet hard drive belonging to Rudy Alves, the owner of Khalil's Kitchen, to dry so they can review the security cameras outside of the building, fire officials said.

Investigators hope the camera will help officials see what happened outside the establishment before the fire started.

Why was 880 Main St. torn down?

"There was so much intense heat the roof collapsed," Nardelli said.

The building was completely demolished because it was a safety hazard, and the risk of falling apart was too great, the chief said.

So far, the fire department has sent out samples and is waiting for the results to determine if a possible accelerant was used.

But as of now, the fire is undetermined, and if the accelerant test comes back negative, the investigation will most likely be turned over to the insurance and handled through the claims department.

"We're still not sure. There was so much damage it's hard to trace it," Nardelli said.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: What caused the Brockton fire that destroyed 3 businesses? The latest on the investigation