Fire that destroyed Sauget warehouse, vintage cars rekindled by smoldering debris
Firefighters were back at the 1400 block of Mississippi Street in Sauget late Friday afternoon, dousing a fire they had put out just the day before.
The fire had already consumed a large section of a sprawling warehouse complex Thursday, requiring the aid of more than a dozen area fire departments, who worked nearly 12 hours on the blaze.
East St. Louis Assistant Fire Chef Derrick Burns said firefighters returned to the rekindled fire at about 4:40 p.m. Friday. Members of the Sauget Fire Department were called to assist, Burns said.
“We have a crew at the scene and a crew from Sauget joined us there,” he said at about 5:30 p.m. “Two spots that previously burned bay 6 and bay 1 rekindled.
“We dumped a couple of tanks of water on the hot spots. ... There is still going to be smoldering because we have to get a front loader or a demolition team to turn that stuff over.”
Fallen steel beams, timber, paper and rubbish caused the flames to rekindle, said Sauget Fire Chief Roger Thornton.
The size of the fire and scope of the damage it caused did not surprise Thornton, who said parts of the building date back to 1903.
“When a building is old, you expect that,” he said. “It had years and years of refurbishing. When you apply roofing tar and there are various modifications and changes that occur, that will make for a heavy fire load.”
Billowing black smoke could be seen from miles around when the East St. Louis and Sauget fire departments received the initial calls shortly before 2 p.m. Thursday. Seven hours later, 18 tankers, nine ladder trucks and 10 pumpers from more than a dozen fire departments were still at the scene battling the flames.
Nations Food Service Equipment and Design and BCL Auction both occupied warehouse bays. Sauget Police Chief James Jones said an auto repair service and “racing car outfit” also were using the space.
“They were totally destroyed because of the heavy flames that ripped through them,” said Burns. “The roofs collapsed. The walls collapsed. There were lots of antique cars in there as well as some racing cars.”
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 assisted.
Two pumper trucks and a third engine from the St. Louis Fire Department also tended to the scene.
It remains unknown how the fire started. There were no injuries reported.
This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 7:34 PM.
