North Bay Post Office Fire Ruled Accidental

A four-alarm fire that gutted the downtown Healdsburg post office  on Saturday evening appears to have been sparked by a mechanical or  electrical problem, a fire official said this morning.
     The blaze started in the building's attic space, which contains  two heating and air-conditioning units, the Healdsburg Fire Department's  acting Fire Chief Steve Adams said.
     The fire caused $1.5 million in damage to the 6,500-square-foot  building at 404 Center St., Adams said. The damage to the building's contents  has not yet been tallied.
     Mail that was deposited at the post office before 3:30 p.m.  Saturday had already been moved to a larger post office annex and  distribution center at 160 Foss Creek Circle, Adams said.
     The U.S. Postal Service was leasing the space, a former Safeway  building that also served as a popular gathering spot for local residents.
     The fire was reported at about 5:20 p.m. Saturday and was  contained a little more than five hours later.
     Between 60 and 75 firefighters from Healdsburg, Windsor,  Geyserville, Santa Rosa and Cloverdale responded, Adams said.
     Two Windsor firefighters, engineer Tom Rathbun, 33, and volunteer  Chad Giordani, 23, were injured in a ladder accident, Windsor Fire Protection  District administrative assistant Ginger Hamilton said.
     Rathbun was on the ladder when it slid down a wall, causing him to  hit Giordani, Hamilton said.
     Rathbun suffered a bruised tailbone and was treated at Healdsburg  District Hospital and released. Giordani hurt his back and is expected to be  released from the hospital today, Hamilton said.
 

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