Fire gutted South End Auto Repair and the dreams of an East St. Louis man who owned it
South End Auto Repair had served customers in its East St. Louis neighborhood until early Wednesday morning when a fire reduced to a burned-out shell the brick structure that could hold up to nine vehicles at a time.
John Nance, its owner, said a friend called him on his way home from work at about 11:45 p.m. to tell him he saw flames coming from the roof of his business on South 17th Street. Nance said he arrived at the scene barely 15 minutes later, just in time to watch the front of the building collapse into heavy flames.
He was numb with shock.
“The whole front was falling in. It probably had been burning for an hour or two,” Nance said. “Three cars were inside of the building.”
East St. Louis Assistant Fire Chief George McClellan was among the first responders at the scene. He said the fire call came to the East St. Louis engine house at Central and Bond avenues between 12:30 and 12:45 a.m.
As fire crews departed the engine house, he said, “We could see fire in the air. Fire was going through the roof when we arrived. It was already gone, when we arrived.”
Oil, gas and other flammable solvents typically found at an auto repair shop caused the fire spread quickly.
“There were also three to four cars inside,” McClellan said. “There were several other cars on the outside of the building with a lot of damage to them.”
All of those vehicles belonged to Nance’s customers, he said.
According to McClellan, it took about 45 minutes for firefighters to get the blaze under control.
“It was a heavy fire load. The building was a total loss. Because of all of the flammable materials inside the building, guys couldn’t get inside,” he said.
Nance says he doesn’t have a clue about how the fire might have started.
“I am waiting for the State Fire Marshal to tell me,” he said.
The day after the fire, Nance sat across the street from his shop surveying the loss. It was near the same spot where he watched his business burn. He said flames were about 80 to 100 feet high.
“They were just as tall as those trees over, there,” he said, pointing to row of trees outside the garage. “The shop had a big peak roof on it. It was about 20 feet in the air.
“I am just devastated.”
Nance said it had been his goal to operate his own business since he was in his early 20s. He attended trade school to learn to be a mechanic and worked at different garages, where he gained experience.
“But, my dream was to own my own shop and I did. I opened South End Auto Repair,” he said. “It was a six-car garage. Now, I am thinking about what I am going to do.”
Nance said, in total, nine cars were damaged including the three vehicles inside the shop and six others parked outside in front of the business. He said Thursday that he’d been able to contact some of the customers who owned the cars, but not all. He said he’ll be at what remains of his shop until he’s made contact with all of them.
Most, he expects, will be understanding.
“They will come and I will be here,” he said. “Some of them saw the fire on television news and they started coming by early this morning. But, there are still some who I have not talked to yet. I will wait right here for them.”
This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
