Fire rips through a building in the Arcades shopping center in west Belleville
A fire early Friday caused extensive damage to one of the buildings in the Arcades shopping and office center, a mainstay on the West Main Street commerce district on the west side of Belleville.
Belleville Assistant Fire Chief Rick Wangelin said no injuries were reported and the cause of the blaze is under investigation.
Jim Federer, the owner of the complex, said he was relieved to hear that no one was injured in the fire at 6400 W. Main St. He has not received an estimate of the damages.
The fire, which was reported at about 3:30 a.m., caused about one-third of the brick building’s roof to collapse, Wangelin said.
Federer said the Arcades has 12 buildings and the one that burned is on the east side of the complex. It had multiple tenants, including a real estate company and a hair salon.
Firefighters “were met with heavy fire” coming from the front of the building when they arrived, Wangelin said.
“They made an aggressive attack and incoming units supported that,” he said.
“It started jumping between units and working its way down the building so we got real aggressive with it trying to cut it off. It’s a 15 or 16 unit building and we got a head of it at one point and we were able to contain the fire damage to the first six or seven units.”
Businesses in the other buildings in the Arcades were able to open for customers Friday morning, Federer said.
West Main Street was closed to through traffic for several hours but around 8:30 a.m. traffic was allowed to pass by in the center lane because a fire truck was still blocking the eastbound lanes.
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 10:02 AM.
