Is the Texas governor or his son suspected of arson?
By Jim Forsyth AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Arson is suspected in a fire that severely damaged the unoccupied Texas Governor’s Mansion in Austin, home to the state’s chief executive since before the U.S. Civil War, fire officials said on Sunday. By midday on Sunday, no arrests had been made in the blaze, which is being investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the state’s fire marshal, said Krista Piferrer, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry. Forty-one governors, including Texas independence hero Sam Houston and U.S. President George W. Bush, have lived in the Greek Revival mansion, which opened in 1856. The mansion was home to Bush and his wife, Laura, from 1995 to 2000, until a month before he became president. No one was injured in the vacant 9,050-square-foot (840-square-metre) mansion in downtown Austin, Piferrer said. The mansion was undergoing maintenance and renovations, including the overhaul of plumbing installed in 1914. Perry and his wife,
