The cause of the Tynes Bay fire is still being investigated Bermuda?s Fire Chief said yesterday.

Chief Fire Officer Vincent Hollinseed said the Fire Department had ?not concluded their investigations?.

?We are still interviewing residents at the area and workers at the facility,? he said. ?We don?t expect to complete the investigation before the end of the week?.

He said progress was slow but was sure to be completed soon.

?We will examine every possibility,? he said.

However on December 28, he told they did not rule out the possibility of spontaneous ignition, which is a complex phenomenon of combustible material ignited by its own heat without external heat or other source of ignition.

Reportedly the largest fire in Bermuda in 20 years, the blaze was first reported around 7 p.m. on December 25.

It began at the Tynes Bay treatment facility where a pile of rubbish some 50 feet high and wide and 100 feet in length caught alight. At one stage flames licked up to 80 feet into the air and a crew of some 40 fire fighters and nine fire vehicles battled for more than three days to get the fire under control.

The plumes of smoke forced North Shore residents to flee their homes.

Power to the area was also cut as a precautionary measure.

Arson has not yet been ruled out.

?At the time we heard it might have been spontaneous ignition, but the investigating officer?s report is not yet available so I am not yet able to say exactly what possibly could have been the cause,? Chief Fire Officer Vincent Hollinseed said yesterday.