$350,000 Fire : Bank Blaze Accidental, Officials Say

Fire officials Wednesday determined that a $350,000 fire at Barclay Bank of California in Anaheim was accidental, most likely caused by an electrical problem.

Fire investigator Don Penfield said the Monday night blaze started in the attic of the bank at 320 Katella Way, where all of the building’s electrical wiring was located.

But he was not sure exactly how the fire started.

“That’s the only source of ignition in the attic, but to say it was a short in any particular wire would be almost impossible,” Penfield said.

He said the investigators ruled out arson because there was no evidence to indicate that someone broke into the attic.

In a related development, Pat Campbell, bank vice president, said it is doubtful whether deposits made in the Automatic Teller Machine at the bank Monday night were credited into accounts.

The fire was so intense that it melted the ATM’s lock inside the building. Bank officials have been unable to get into the ATM, but they assume that the receipts of deposit and the money and checks inside were destroyed.

Normally, when customers deposit cash or checks into the ATM at Barclay, they receive receipts of the transactions for which the machine has duplicates. The duplicates are then recorded in the bank’s main computer the next day.

But Campbell said the fire may have destroyed the portion of the ATM that stores the duplicate information.

She said the bank will not apply service charges to accounts that are overdrawn because of the fire and will send explanatory letters to debtors of those, if any, whose checks are returned.

Penfield said the building was not severly burned near the vault, which he said wasn’t damaged. He added that he did not know if it was opened Wednesday.

Security guards are on duty round the clock until all bank property is removed and vault contents are transferred to the downtown Barclay branch, 100 W. Lincoln Ave. in Anaheim, where customers can gain access to their safety deposit boxes Monday.