The Banner recently obtained photos from inside what’s left of the Downtown Library Parking Garage. The rubble reveals more questions than answers about the cause of the June 10 fire that has closed the library for more than a month and left Nashville without one of its most reliable, affordable parking options.
Buckled floors, curved like skate ramps, display gaps between spans of concrete and are flanked by the charred remains of automobiles and street cleaning vehicles parked within the structure.
Preliminary investigations eliminated arson and weather as causes, according to a June 30 statement released by the Nashville Fire Department. Electrical failure could not be confirmed or ruled out with the available evidence. The preliminary report describes a fourth-floor storage area separated by fence from the parking area, stating, “Contained within the storage area was the tool room, which was the area of fire origin. Examination of the tool room was impossible due to the collapse. There was no available physical evidence to indicate the competent ignition source, and first fuel ignited.”…