GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News is gaining new insight into the investigation surrounding a house fire that killed a local mother and her daughters.
The father survived.
Channel 2’s Tony Thomas sat down with Gwinnett County Fire Chief Casey Snyder for the first time Wednesday for an exclusive interview where Snyder responded to criticism over who is leading the investigation -- and why we still don't know what led to the fire.
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EXCLUSIVE: Search warrant details arson investigation in fire that killed mom, daughters
Snyder told Thomas he has a team of investigators working on the investigation into the fire that killed that killed Kathy Patterson and her two daughters.
"It is very important for us to find out the facts," Snyder told Thomas.
Snyder said it could be mid-summer or later before investigators have all the results they need from items taken from this fire scene.
Fears about whether the fire was an accident or a crime still haunt the Porter Ridge neighborhood, and questions about the investigation itself still bug the Fire Department. %
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READ: DA investigating man's story of fire that killed wife, daughters
“Do you believe your team made any mistakes?” Thomas asked Snyder
“No sir,” Snyder said.
“How close to having the answers do you believe your team is?” Thomas asked.
“It's hard to say. One of the key components we will get back is probably the toxicology reports, but I'm not going to say it ends there,” Snyder said.
Brent Patterson, husband and father, is the lone survivor of the fire. He told Thomas just hours after February fire that there was nothing he could do to save his family.
“I heard a noise. I opened the front door and it was like the place exploded,” Patterson told Thomas at the time.
But soon, authorities say Patterson’s story would change and their suspicions grow.
Investigators searched the property with a search warrant in hand declaring they had evidence to show possible first-degree arson.
Leading the case -- Investigator Sara Redmond -- who until early last year, worked in human resources.
READ: Investigators return to scene of fire that killed mother, 2 daughters
“Any issues in your mind with her leading this investigation?” Thomas asked Snyder.
“No sir,” Snyder said.
Some critics whispered she shouldn't be heading such a high-profile case but the chief said she wasn't the lead investigator the night of the fire, and took over only after another investigator went out on medical leave.
“There was over a 100 years of experience that night on that fire,” Snyder said.
Commanders say there is now a de facto task force looking into the fire and Brent Patterson’s conflicting stories.
“We are just going to see where this takes us. We are looking at all the different angles,” Snyder said.
Cox Media Group
