Evidence of Arson Not Found in Oak View Fire : Inquiry: Officials say investigators are pursuing possibility that blaze was caused by someone smoking in home of black family.

Despite statements by members of a black Oak View family that they were the target of a deliberate attack, fire and sheriff’s officials said Thursday that they have been unable to find any evidence of arson in a fire that destroyed the family’s home early Tuesday morning.

“There’s no physical evidence to suggest there was an arson,” said Lt. Craig Husband of the major crimes division of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

“Fires frequently consume a lot of the evidence,” Husband said. “But generally speaking, if there is an arson there is evidence to identify it as such.”

Although officials have not ruled out the possibility of arson despite the lack of supporting evidence, Husband also disclosed Thursday that investigators still are pursuing the possibility that the fire was caused by someone who was smoking inside the house.

The possibility that a cigarette started the fire was among the early avenues of investigation, officials said. Investigators initially thought the blaze might have been caused by someone smoking in the living room where the fire originated.

But in an interview after the fire Tuesday at Ojai Community Hospital, 13-year-old Shuwana Stanford, who suffered facial burns in the fire, told inspector William O’Bryan Hager that she did not smoke and was not smoking before the blaze broke out. She has said she was asleep on the living room couch when the fire started.

Although Husband said he is not aware of evidence of smoking burns anywhere inside the house, he said Thursday that it is still too early to rule out smoking as a possible cause.

“It’s definitely within the realm of possibility,” he said.

Family members have said from the beginning that the fire must have been deliberately set. They have told investigators that they heard a “pop” before the blaze started and saw a single stream of fire moments before the three-bedroom home was engulfed in flames, suggesting to them that some flammable liquid had ignited their modest house.

One family member, Lonnie Stanford, told investigators he saw a hole in the living room window moments before the fire broke out.

Earlier this week, however, a trained arson dog was unable to identify any flammable liquids in the fire-gutted structure. Investigators also could not confirm whether there had been a hole in a window because all the windows of the house were blown out by the fire.

And there was no evidence to suggest any sort of incendiary device was thrown into the house, fire investigators said.

Three fire investigators sifted through the charred remains of the house most of Tuesday. But fire investigator Peter Cronk said they could not uncover enough evidence to determine what caused the fire.

“You just keep digging until something turns up,” Cronk said. “It can take a long time.”

Stymied by the discrepancies between witness accounts and the lack of evidence, investigators re-interviewed family members Thursday. But Husband said Thursday afternoon that no new or different information was garnered from the additional interviews.

Although family members have spoken freely about the fire and their beliefs that it may have been racially motivated, a family member said Thursday that the Stanfords did not want to discuss the continuing investigation anymore.

Assistant Fire Chief Richard Perry said the department hopes to have the investigation completed by the end of the weekend. He said fire investigators have not ruled out any possible causes.

“Sometimes it’s apparent the minute the investigator walks in,” Perry said. “But sometimes you really have to sift through the ashes.”

Though there are differences between the witnesses’ accounts and the evidence, Husband said he doesn’t think that any member of the family has lied.

“I believe that they are truthfully reporting what they believe happened,” Husband said, adding: “Being involved in a structure fire is stressful and that has to be taken into account.”

Shuwana Stanford suffered first- and second-degree burns to her face as a result of the fire. Two other family members were treated for smoke inhalation.

Members of the Stanford family, and the NAACP, have said they think the fire was deliberately set in an act of racial hatred.

“I honestly believe that that was not an accident,” said John R. Hatcher III, president of the Ventura County chapter of the NAACP. “Accidents don’t just happen--somebody makes them happen.”

Hatcher contacted the FBI after the fire, calling for a federal investigation into possible civil rights violations--probes that are routinely launched by the FBI whenever there is a high-profile incident involving possible racist motives.

An FBI agent met with Lonnie Stanford, a 30-year Navy veteran who works for the federal Department of Veteran Affairs, for nearly an hour Wednesday at the charred home, and officials have said that the FBI is closely monitoring the case.

Gary Auer, head of the FBI’s Ventura County office, would not disclose any details of the agency’s involvement in the investigation, saying only that the FBI might become more actively involved only if local officials determined the fire to be an arson.

While refusing to discuss any specifics about the Oak View case, Auer, responding to a question, said false statements made to federal investigators can result in criminal prosecutions.

“However, there is always a distinction between someone expressing a thought, a belief, an opinion, which may or may not be accurate,” Auer said. “Before any criminal actions take place, the government has to show a knowing criminal intent.”