Wiring to blame for blaze

A spark from an outlet near a Christmas tree is to blame for the fire that burned Pine Tree Plaza in Troy last month.

Mike Cratty, the fire marshal with Troy Volunteer Fire Department, said he was able to pinpoint a four-square-foot area around an overhead outlet as the origin of the fire. A Christmas tree stood on a table just below the outlet.

“Beneath about two feet of char, the cord was still on the floor,” Cratty said.

Cratty was able to trace backward the V-patterns the fire left on the walls and ceilings as it moved outward and upward. The trail led him to the back of the building.

The fire displaced 14 families in the late-night hours of Dec. 11. One tenant, Eric Howe, suffered serious burns while helping his girlfriend and son escape unharmed. Howe was transported to the University of Utah Burn Center in Salt Lake City. He remains there with first-, second- and third-degree burns on 31 percent of his body.