Cause of fire at Rand Paul’s office remains unknown as senator looks for answers

The cause of a fire at a building housing a Kentucky office of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., remains unknown as investigators continue to search for answers as to what started the blaze that impacted a handful of buildings in downtown Bowling Green.

A Saturday Facebook post from the Bowling Green Fire Department provides a detailed account of a fire that engulfed the building located at 1029 State Street and nearby buildings early Friday morning. The office building houses Paul’s local office and a local law firm.

A picture of the aftermath posted to the department’s Facebook page Friday shows an upper story of the building, with the numbers “1029” visible at the front entrance, partially collapsed. The department elaborated on the extent of the damage in the Saturday Facebook post.

“Yesterday at 01:45, BGFD responded to multiple reports of smoke and fire coming from the Presbyterian Church on State Street. Soon after these calls, more units were dispatched for a fire alarm at 1025 State Street,” the Saturday Facebook post stated.

A notice on Paul’s website states that “My Bowling Green office is temporarily closed.”

Shortly after arriving at the scene, fire officials discovered that “fire was involved beyond the address of the fire alarm, but also at 1029 and 1023 State Street.” The intense, 17-hour effort to control the blaze resulted in the shutdown of the surrounding streets and more than six dozen Bowling Green Fire Department personnel responded to the scene.

“Portions of the building began to deteriorate, including collapse of the roof, weakened exterior walls, and collapse of portions of exterior walls. This caused the structure to be very unstable and forced crews to remain in a safe zone throughout the incident,” the Facebook post reads.

“Once the fire was placed under control, it was determined that the structure was unsafe for any entry. A contractor was immediately notified to begin demolishment of the structure,” the department added.

In an appearance on Fox News Monday, Paul said that local officials “haven’t told us how the fire started or what they believe started the fire yet.”

“This was a big fire. It consumed about a city block,” he said. “It took 31 firefighters, six fire engines in order to contain the blaze. The hope was to not let the country courthouse [across a narrow alleyway] catch fire. Four buildings that are contiguous, that all abut each other, caught on fire.”

Host Laura Ingraham opened her interview with Paul by noting that the senator has faced “many threats” over the years and that one of his staffers was stabbed earlier this year.

Paul said his office has turned over the video footage to investigators.

“Whether or not our footage will help in the investigation of this, there is some other commercial footage from around there as well. But I haven’t heard any results from the investigation,” he said.

Paul announced in a March 27 statement that one of his staff members was “brutally attacked” in broad daylight in Washington. He expressed gratitude that “the suspect has been arrested” while requesting “privacy so everyone can focus on healing and recovery.”

The stabbing and office fire comes nearly six years after Paul was assaulted at his home in Bowling Green and less than three years after he was “attacked by an angry mob” following then-President Donald Trump’s acceptance speech for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2020 at the White House.

The 2017 assault, which Paul described as an “unfortunate event,” led to the senator suffering “six broken ribs” and a “pleural effusion.”

The Bowling Green Fire Department indicated that “the investigation into the cause of Friday’s fire remains ongoing by BGFD and [the Bowling Green Police Department],” adding, “We will be working alongside the [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] as they have [begun] their own investigation.”