Preliminary damage estimates are being placed at six-hundred thousand dollars in a fire that struck McLane Midwest Distribution Services in Danville late last night (Friday, June 29, 2018). Duty Captain Jerome Sparks says that when he and other firefighters arrived there was only light smoke coming from the building, but water was pouring out from under garage doors from the sprinkler system activating.
Sparks says it was discovered that the fire was inside a cool storage space where food products and cups were stacked thirty feet high on pallets. Although stacks of material were burning, Captain Sparks says fortunately a concrete wall behind them kept the flames from spreading.
Fifteen Danville Firefighters fought the 3-alarm blaze from 10 o’clock Friday night until the last unit cleared the scene shortly after 5 o’clock this (Saturday) morning. Two firefighters suffered minor injuries but did not seek hospital treatment.
‘’There was a lot of damage, but there was a lot saved,’’ added Sparks. He says in addition to the food products and cups there were also two forklift trucks that were heavily damaged.
Captain Sparks says when firefighters opened the door leading to the area where the fire was located they were met by smoke and fog. The fog was occurring because of the fact that area of the building is refrigerated and the overhead sprinklers had activated.
Damages to the building were estimated at $200-thousand dollars and damages to contents have been estimated at $400-thousand dollars.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office is assisting.
Cleaning crews arrived on the scene quickly and are now working to clean up the damage….including areas of the building where there is water damage, but no fire damage according to Sparks.
The McLane Midwest Distribution Service is located on Danville’s east side at U.S. route 136 and Lynch Road. It is one of the largest supply chain services. It supplies grocery products to convenience stores and other food services across a large portion of the central United States.
