Two-dozen departments responded to fire
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Sparks caused a five-alarm blaze and destruction of commercial unit at Salem Business Center last week, according to fire officials.
The fire, ruled accidental, started before 3 p.m. June 8 when a transmission shop worker grinding metal discovered shavings ignited a fire in a nearby storage unit, and when he attempted to find a fire extinguisher, it was too late, Salem Fire Chief Mike Slover reported.
“An occupant was working on a vehicle, and the fire was discovered, and he tried to extinguish it,” Slover stated at the scene last week. “It is not suspicious.”
The blaze at the 28501 Wilmot Road property required mutual aid from two-dozen agencies, 236,000 gallons of water and took more than five hours to extinguish, Slover stated.
Slover said firefighters had difficulty accessing the building reportedly engulfed with flames, and also to adequate water supply, necessitating the need to use the entire 175,000-gallon supply from the town’s water tower.
“The issues we had were access to the buildings and also to a water supply,” Slover stated. “There was a pretty good fire on the inside, and the water supply was limited.”
Trevor resident Zach Lentz, 22, watched the event unfold, stating firefighters had to break down the doors.
“By the time the fire department got here, there was smoke filling the whole building,” Lentz said. “It started going down, unit to unit, all the way down.”
Town of Salem Fire and Rescue requested 14 tanker trucks, and three ladder trucks to battle the blaze.
“Some of the mutual aid departments went to different sites for water,” Slover explained.
The water tower has been restocked since Wednesday, he added, stating it was not a critical issue.
“We built (the water tower) to enhance the area,” Slover said. “There are no users of the of the water tower.”
Meanwhile, a firefighter sent to the hospital for a precautionary measure, had been treated and released that evening and returned to full duty the next day, Slover said.
Town of Salem Fire and Rescue received mutual aid from Racine, Kenosha counties along with departments from Northern Illinois.
Departments in Kenosha County were from Bristol, Pleasant Prairie, Silver Lake, Paris, City of Kenosha, Randall, Wheatland and Somers.
Responding agencies from Racine included Kansasville, Union Grove, Town of Burlington and the Racine Fire Bells.
Northern Illinois departments came from Lake Villa, Round Lake, Fox Lake, McHenry, Richmond, Spring Grove, Antioch, Newport and Wauconda.
The Fire Investigation Task Force of Kenosha County, which includes fire officials and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department led the investigation, Slover said.