Woman dies in St. Libory apartment fire despite efforts from passersby to save her
A 51-year-old woman died in an apartment fire in St. Libory Monday night.
Stacy L. Gale lived in the apartment above Dave’s West End Tavern, 7160 Illinois 15, according to the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department. Coroner Calvin Dye Sr. said she was pronounced dead at 11:27 p.m.
St. Libory Fire Chief Casey Trentman said the state fire marshal’s office is investigating the cause and origin of the fire.
Trentman said the fire was reported at 10:33 p.m.
“Two passersby saw flames shooting from outside the window and they alerted the owner who was still inside of the bar” and called the fire department, the chief said.
“We arrived on scene two minutes later and found an apartment on the second floor of Dave’s West End on fire,” the chief said.
The passersby had been driving by the tavern when they saw the fire, according to Capt. Bruce Fleshren of the sheriff’s department. He said in a release that the passersby “ran up the back steps to the apartment and kicked in the door. Neither could enter the burning apartment because the flames were too intense.”
Trentman called in more fire departments to battle the blaze. In all, about 10 fire departments and 60 firefighters were on scene until around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, he said.
“It took between 12-15 minutes to knock the fire down to where firefighters could gain entry to the apartment,” the chief said. “When we gained entry, we found a female victim inside.”
The names of the passersby were not released.
J. C. Fultz, public information officer for the fire marshal, said there is no timeline for the investigation to be completed. He said each investigation is different.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 9:33 AM.
