AUSTIN, Texas, June 8 (UPI) -- Fire investigators suspect arson in a blaze that gutted the 152-year-old Texas governor's mansion in Austin, Texas, Sunday, an official said.
An unnamed official close to the investigation told The Dallas Morning News state fire marshals determined the fire was intentionally set after viewing video surveillance tapes. A team of federal officials from the U.S. Justice Department was on the way to Austin to join the investigation, the newspaper reported.
No one was injured in the huge fire, which went to four alarms. Texas Gov. Rick Perry and his wife were not living in the mansion because it was being renovated when the fire broke out about 1 a.m. CDT Sunday, the Morning News reported, adding that balls of flame from the blaze were visible for miles.
"They're heartbroken," Krista Piferrer, a spokeswoman for Perry, said. "This was not only their home -- this was Texas history, which the Perrys have an incredible passion for."
Officials said they couldn't immediately evaluate the monetary loss, but said there was a stroke of luck in that the ongoing renovations had necessitated the removal of all valuable art work, furniture and artifacts from the mansion.
