Exactly one year after the FBI posthumously accused Mark Reno of torching Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood, the Knoxville Fire Department has released its own report stating that the fire was intentionally set inside the building, and all doors were locked when firefighters arrived.
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (LifeSiteNews) – On October 31, 2023, the Knoxville Fire Department (KFD) released its report on the blaze which destroyed Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood. They also released hundreds of photographs of the burned building. In their report, KFD investigators concluded: “All fire patterns, evidence and witness statement at the scene support the area of origin as being along the rear wall of the new addition in the area of the exam rooms. Evidence discovered at the scene supports the probable cause of this fire as being intentionally set by a suspect using an ignitable liquid brought to the scene and placed in the rear of the new addition.”
KFD investigators also made observations about access to the building: “The doors and windows in the original structure were in place and locked. The new addition did not have doors and windows installed yet. Temporary doors were built out of plywood and locked with chains and padlocks. The windows were covered with plastic sheeting stapled to the openings… Interviews of fire personal were conducted and it was determined that all doors were in place and locked when the fire department arrived. They did force entry into several door[s] during fire suppression operations. The windows in the new addition were not in place, and covered in plastic that had been stapled up during the construction. These windows and plastic all suffered fire and heat damage and the security of these windows cannot be determined.”
This KFD report indicates that the arsonist either had keyed access or climbed in and out of the building through narrow unsecured windows of the new addition (lighter brick). Mark Reno – the man whom the FBI accused exactly one year ago of setting the blaze – was 62 years old at the time of the fire, according to his obituary. (Reno died in the custody of U.S. Marshals in August of 2022 while awaiting trial on unrelated charges.) In its affidavit accusing Reno, the FBI offered no explanation as to how Reno gained entry to the building.