Arson not suspected as cause of Leander bookstore fire

Books for new Leander book store go up in flames

Investigators with the Leander Fire Department are trying to determine what sparked a fire at a new bookstore. It happened early Thursday in the Old Town District.

LEANDER, Texas - Investigators with the Leander Fire Department are trying to determine what sparked a fire at a new bookstore.

The fire happened early Thursday morning in the Old Town District.

What they're saying:

A work crew was busy Friday morning sealing floors inside a 115-year-old home in Leander's Old Town District.

The renovation project was started a year ago by former Leander ISD English teacher Sarah Ambrus, who decided it was time to start a new chapter of her life.

She was transforming the home into a bookstore, but a fire forced an unexpected rewrite of her plans.

"While it is a setback, it's not the end of our story, and we really have a lot of, like I said, a lot support," said Ambrus.

Bruce Somers took a photo of the fire as it burned early Thursday morning behind the bookstore.

"I couldn't believe it. The building was in full flame. The one policeman had gone by, and I just couldn't believe it was just engulfed," said Somers, who lived with his wife Kathy across the street from the new store.

They've been looking forward to the upcoming opening of Lioness Books.

"She has poured her heart into it. We see, we sit outside, we see the goings on. We know that she's put a lot of effort from the painting to the, now I just found out about the custom bookshelves that she lost. She's sick about that," said Kathy Somers.

The fire was contained to a storage building in the backyard, but most of the books kept inside were damaged beyond repair — many reduced to ash.  Custom-made shelves and other furniture, all waiting for a Saturday move-in, are no longer usable. 

Dig deeper:

The cause of the fire remains undetermined, but investigators with the Leander Fire Marshals office have ruled out arson.

"Honestly, I am so overwhelmed with the support that we've gotten. I'm not even thinking about what may have caused it or anything like that because really it doesn't matter. What's done is done. And we're looking forward. We're looking towards the future," said Ambrus.

What's next:

The future of Lioness Books includes a GoFundMe campaign to buy replacement books as well as new furniture. So far it has raised over half its goal.

"We're looking at about $40,000 to $50,000 worth of damage, including the structure that we lost, the inventory, the furniture, the fixtures, the books, all of that. So it is a setback. We are collecting donations and we've gotten some donations that will kind of help us in the interim while we're waiting for insurance to come through," said Ambrus.

Sarah's reopening rewrite for Lioness Books is expected to be done in time for the Austin Book Trail, which runs April 4-5. She will use her mobile bookstore as one of the nearly 40 stops for the annual event.

"We still have events in progress. So we're still moving forward. It's just a little speed bump in the road, but it's not the end of our story," said Ambrus.

The damage from the fire will eventually be thrown away, but not everything. Some of the burned books will be sent to a New York artist who saw a social media post about the fire. She contacted Sarah and requested some of the books for an art display that she’s assembling.