MASON, Texas (AP) – A suspect has been arrested after a massive fire that destroyed all the outer walls of the rock of a 111-year-old Texas court, according to an official.
The fire at Mason County Courthouse in Mason, about 160 miles northwest of Austin, began Thursday night. There was no one in the building. Mason County Judge Jerry Bearden said the flames could be seen from miles away.
“Right now, it’s just a shell,” he told KXAN television. “It just breaks your heart to look at it.”
He told The Associated Press on Friday that fire investigators suspect there were fires in both the court fire and another fire at the same time in a house about a mile away.
The Texas state fire commissioner’s office said in a statement that it has joined police agencies investigating the fire, but a spokesman would not provide any details of the investigation on Friday. The county sheriff has not sent any AP messages.
The courthouse, made of local sandstone, was being prepared for renovations, so all county records had been moved, Bearden said. He said there was only furniture in the building.
He said firefighters “did their best,” but “could do nothing to curb the flames.”
Bearden said the court bell tower, which had a clock, was destroyed.
“It’s just a terrible tragedy for the people here in the county,” Bearden said. “This is the focal point of our community, of our county.”
Bearden said officials will have an engineer inspect the exterior walls in hopes of rebuilding the “big old one.”
Mason County has a population of about 4,300.