By APRIL MIDDLETON

Salina Journal

As the investigation into the cause of the fire at Anderson's Leather continued and inventory was taken, the Andersons on Tuesday moved the store's office into the vacant Western Discount storefront.

Andy and Vi Anderson own both Anderson's Leather and Western Discount, 135 N. Santa Fe. Western Discount closed some time ago.

Tuesday, the Andersons had help in moving filing cabinets full of paperwork -- saved from the burned Anderson's Leather building, 118 N. Santa Fe -- from one building to the other. The Andersons' phone lines were being switched to the Western Discount building as well.

Once they are operational again, those phones are likely to be ringing frequently, Vi Anderson said.

"We have customers who have coats that were brought in for cleaning, all the layaways and orders that were placed," she said. "I'm sure everyone just wants to know what is going on."

Andy Anderson said most of those items lost in the fire should be covered by insurance.

He is waiting to make any plans for the future until the insurance agencies involved -- and there could be as many as seven -- have finished working.

"There are lots of loose ends, but nothing is in my hands," Anderson said. "The only thing in my hands are the keys."

Anderson said it could be weeks before he knows anything more.

This community and even people from other states have shown their support to the family and the store by calling, sending cards, flowers and even fruit baskets, Vi said.

The night of the fire, Vi said they received more than 50 phone calls at their home.

"I stopped counting after that," she said. "We were surprised and thankful."

Fire cause undetermined

The fire was reported shortly after noon Wednesday at Anderson's Leather. Windows shattered and the building's roof collapsed. Flames and heat breached the firewall separating Anderson's from The Groove, 112 N. Santa Fe.

The Groove remains closed, and Anderson's Leather remains cordoned off with yellow tape because there still is a risk of a building collapse, Fire Marshal Roger Williams said.

Williams said the fire department has passed the investigation on to the insurance company.

The fire department will continue to be involved, but the insurance company has more resources to continue the investigation than does the city.

"It's a dollars and cents thing," Williams said. "They have resources available to hire engineers or whatever they can do to make sure they get an exact origin and cause. We don't have those resources."

It's possible the cause could remain undetermined, Williams said.

"The thing you do is rule out everything you possibly can and you work on hypotheses. From those hypotheses, you have to be able to duplicate the fire. If you can't do that, you can't place a true cause on the fire," Williams said.

In the case of the Anderson's Leather fire, Williams said there are several hypotheses, but the fire remains undetermined because "we can't make it fit."

Investigating was made more difficult because of the roof collapse, he said.

"I know everyone, including myself, would love to know what happened," Williams said. "When the roof collapsed into the second floor, I knew we would have a challenge."

nReporter April Middleton can be reached at 822-1498 or by e-mail at amiddleton@salina.com.