Firefighters work for hours to contain massive fire at warehouse in Sauget
A massive plume of black and gray smoke was visible across the region after a warehouse caught fire Thursday afternoon.
The fire started shortly before 2 p.m. at a warehouse in the 1400 block of Mississippi Avenue, according to St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons.
Seven hours later, 18 tankers, nine ladder trucks and 10 pumpers from more than a dozen fire departments were still battling the flames. An investigation and containment of hot spots continued into Friday.
“When we arrived on scene, firefighters went inside, but there was too much of a heavy fire load, so we came back out,” said East St. Louis Assistant Fire Chief George McClellan. “We called for all available ladder (trucks) in our area because ours were not enough to stop it. One hour later we had a call for St. Louis.”
The property is just north of Pop’s nightclub and is adjacent to the Diamond Cabaret, an adult entertainment club separated from the sprawling warehouse compound by a masonry wall roughly 10-feet tall.
Nations FoodService Equipment and Design and BCL Auction both occupy the warehouse, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Sauget Police Chief James Jones said an auto repair service and “racing car outfit” also were using the space.
He said firefighters are working to contain the fire to six warehouses, though he wasn’t sure how many units were part of the complex.
It was not immediately clear how the fire started or what is stored in the warehouse. McClellan said as of 9 p.m. there were no injuries.
Meredith Rivers, an East St. Louis man who lives about seven blocks from the fire, was returning from a shopping trip in Belleville when he saw the smoke. Since it was so close to his home, he pulled off Illinois 3 to watch the firefighters work.
“Wow,” was his initial reaction. He said when he spotted the smoke, he assumed the blaze must have been in St. Louis because the billowing plumes were so large.
“Several” fire departments responded, Simmons said. Firefighters from East St. Louis, Camp Jackson and Sauget fire departments were on the scene as of 3 p.m.
Apparatus from multiple departments began to arrive over the next hour, in addition to an ambulance.
Prairie du Pont, Hollywood Heights, Signal Hill, Collinsville, Belleville, Dupo, Highland-Pierron, Freeburg, Maeystown and Columbia Long Lake, St. Jacob, Smithton, Mitchell and Marine fire departments also assisted.
Two pumper trucks and a third engine from the St. Louis Fire Department were on the scene by 3:45 p.m.
Tanker trucks were rotated through to empty their water supplies on the blaze before heading out to refill. Firefighters were later spotted laying out a hose several hundred yards long so water could be pumped directly from a hydrant on Monsanto Avenue.
This story was originally published April 16, 2020 at 2:32 PM.
