An investigation continues into the cause of a fire that destroyed the Fireside Event Center near Westville Thursday morning.
Mark Ames II, Chief of the Westville Area Fire Protection District, says the alarm sounded shortly after 2:00 a.m…..
{AUDIO: ‘’No one was at the business at the time of the fire. The first engines in found the fire to be auto-venting through the roof. We went into a defensive posture, and it took about 45 personnel about three hours to bring the fire under control.’’}
Chief Ames says once the fire erupted the flames spread quickly….
{AUDIO: ‘’The Event Center is a large open room. They host weddings and other parties. It’s also utilized as a Bingo hall, and the fire appeared to have originated in that part of the building. So it had a pretty large open area to spread.’’}
The flames also consumed an attached gaming parlor. Westville’s Fire Chief says the rural location of the businesses – along Lyons Road – created a challenge for firefighters….
{AUDIO: ‘’It’s in Danville Township on the outside edge of Belgium. So the water supply is pretty limited there. So we ran a rural water operation which requires a lot of tankers. We also utilized the hydrant that was over 1800 feet away from the fire. So it had its unique challenges.}
There were no injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Westville Area Fire Department and Illinois State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Ames added bingo games were played at The Event Center Wednesday night, but says that portion of the building closed at 11:00 p.m. The adjoining gaming parlor was open until 1:00 o’clock Thursday morning. It was just over an hour later that the fire was reported.
Assisting Westville volunteer firefighters on the scene were units from the Tilton, Lynch, Kickapoo, Georgetown, Catlin, Ridge Farm, Indianola, Sidell, Homer, and F-M-C (Fithian-Muncie-Collison) Departments.
