Fire ravages Minooka machine shop
By Brian Stanley bstanley@stmedianetwork.com January 3, 2013 9:50AM
A view of an industrial building fire off Bell Rd. in Minooka Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2013. | Todd Sherman~For Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 5, 2013 6:21AM
No one was injured when fire destroyed a machine shop Wednesday night in Minooka.
The blaze was discovered at 8:10 p.m. at 725 Bell Road.
The cause of the fire is under investigation but the structure and property inside are considered a total loss, Minooka Fire Chief Al Yancey said.
The first crew to arrive found heavy smoke and fire from the large garage behind a house on a farm.
Yancey said firefighters learned from the property owner that a large propane tank was in the building. Crews began pouring water onto the tank to prevent an explosion.
A short time later, the roof of the building collapsed. Yancey said the owner provided a backhoe to remove some of the debris in order to allow cooling of the propane tank to continue. The building also contained farm equipment, tools and antique cars.
Because of the rural location, fire crews had to shuttle water to the scene with tanker trucks.
Assisting were Minooka and Kendall County police, the Kendall County Highway Department and firefighters from Rockdale, Bristol Kendall, Morris and Elwood.
