Cause of Market Square Shopping Center Blaze Unknown

About a month after an e, little is known about what sparked the blaze.

The cause of the two-alarm fire was ruled undetermined by the fire marshal's office late last week.

"The investigation started the day of the fire and was very labor-intensive," Captain Jeffery Thompson, of the Philadelphia Fire Department, said. "The fire marshal actually digs to the lowest point of the burn, but this time the damage was just too extensive."

Undetermined is not a cause that is seen too often, Thompson added.

"It's not necessarily something we see a lot, but due to the severity and scope, the fire marshal's office was unable to ascertain the exact cause," Thompson said. "To find a cause we normally eliminate certain things and we just couldn't do that this time."

Now that the fire marshal's investigation has concluded, the property owner could start the process of rebuilding if they chose to.

At this point it is unknown whether rebuilding will occur. Employees at several stores along the strip mall said they did not hear anything from the landlord about the process. 

According to the city's Office of Property Assessment, the strip mall is owned by Constitution Bank.