The old City Hall was in the fire hall, and if a fire broke out, business shut down because you couldn't hear anymore. Gale was well respected and probably could have stayed mayor for a long time after that if he would have wanted to.

It was a totally defensive fire fight,

I believe there was a fear that damage would be done to the fire district if that were to happen, ... When you have a disruption in the continuity of the district like that, it's not good for the district and I think that's what they were thinking when they held the meeting to approve the contracts.

He has never admitted to anyone he started the fire.

It is bad. But it probably should have been worse due to the amount of fire.

There is no other place that we have where we can use live fire as we do in Vieques. That would put a serious hole in our ability to conduct training to protect our troops, ... CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports.