The fire that consumed the Mercer & Holt warehouse at Greystone Wharf last Wednesday was almost certainly the work of an arsonist, according to a preliminary report released by Fire Marshal Edwin Hale on Saturday evening.
Hale’s investigators identified traces of a petroleum-based accelerant — believed to be a refined lamp oil commonly available at industrial suppliers — at three distinct points on the warehouse’s ground floor. The pattern of char marks and the speed with which the fire spread, which Hale described as “wholly inconsistent with an accidental ignition,” further support the finding.
“The evidence speaks plainly,” Hale said in a statement accompanying the report. “This fire was set with intent. We are now treating the Greystone Wharf incident as a criminal matter and have referred our findings to the Metropolitan Constabulary.”
A Building With Troubled Ownership
The warehouse was owned by the Ashcroft Property Group, a mid-sized firm that manages commercial properties across the Docklands and East Palisade. The building had sat vacant for eighteen months following the departure of its last tenant, Henning & Sons Ship Chandlers, who relocated to newer premises near Port Sovereign.
The Bobington Times has learned that Ashcroft Property Group was the subject of a tax assessment dispute with the city over the property, which the Municipal Revenue Office had valued at 2.4 million florins for the purposes of a levy on vacant commercial buildings — a charge Ashcroft had contested through the Administrative Court.
Gerald Ashcroft, the firm’s managing director, issued a terse statement through his solicitors denying any connection to the fire.
“The suggestion that the Ashcroft Property Group had anything to do with this incident is reckless and defamatory,” the statement read. “Mr. Ashcroft is cooperating fully with the investigation and expects to be cleared of any suspicion.”
Insurance Questions
Sources close to the investigation told the Times that Ashcroft had renewed and substantially increased the building’s insurance policy just four months before the fire — a fact that investigators are examining closely, though they stress it does not constitute evidence of wrongdoing.
The policy, underwritten by Fairweather & Chalk, one of the city’s oldest insurance firms, reportedly valued the building and its contents at 3.8 million florins — more than a million florins above the Municipal Revenue Office’s own assessment.
“That discrepancy is certainly something we’ll look at,” said one source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “But it’s not uncommon for owners to insure above assessed value. It proves nothing on its own.”
Calls for Reform
Councilwoman Ida Pryce, whose district includes the Docklands, renewed her call for a comprehensive review of building inspection protocols in the wake of the report.
“We have allowed too many of these old warehouses to sit empty and neglected, and now we see the consequences,” Pryce said. “Whether this fire was set for profit or for spite, the fact remains that a building listed as endangered heritage was left to decay until someone saw fit to put a match to it.”
The Bobington Historical Preservation Society echoed Pryce’s concerns, noting that it had written to the Council three times in the past two years requesting emergency preservation orders for the Mercer & Holt warehouse, receiving no formal reply.
“We warned that this would happen,” said the Society’s chairwoman, Louisa Marchbank. “Not specifically a fire, but something. These buildings cannot be allowed to simply moulder into nothing. They are the memory of this city.”
The Metropolitan Constabulary confirmed it has opened a formal investigation and urged anyone with information about activity near the warehouse in the days preceding the fire to contact the Docklands precinct.