Explosion Rocked Joliet's Union Signs & Printing, Gould Brothers Demolition Underway: Photo Gallery

JOLIET, IL — At least four people could have perished on Thursday afternoon inside the Union Signs and Printing Company as one of Joliet's biggest fires in recent years swept through the east side of Joliet business. The thick black smoke could be seen hovering over the city for several miles.

By Thursday night, Gould Brothers Excavating and Demolition had brought its heavy equipment to the scene to demolish the entire Eastern Avenue structure. The site of Thursday's horrific daytime fire was just a block away from the historic Joliet Central High School campus.

Union Signs & Printing makes T-shirts, banners, flyers, brochures, tickets, invitations and bumper stickers. The company is also known for creating signs for Will County's political candidates.

On Thursday night, Joliet Fire Department Battalion Chief Paul Yanak, who was one of the first responders to arrive at the blaze, issued a follow-up press release revealing the following key events surrounding the Union Signs fire:

• 2:19 p.m. Joliet's Fire Department responded to 1 S. Eastern for the structure fire. Prior to the crew's arrival, Yanak said he had reports of four or five people trapped inside the building.
• Company 1 — which is just four or five blocks away on Clinton Street — arrived to find a large commercial building with heavy black smoke coming from the windows on the east side of the building.
• Upon arrival, Yanak said JFD firefighters were met by four people outside the building, and they indicated everyone was out of the building.
• As crews stretched their initial hose line to the front door, an explosion occurred on the east side of the building. Conditions around the building changed immediately.

• Yanak informed Joliet Patch that "something exploded." He said it did not cause an entire brick wall to collapse or anything, but the explosion drastically changed the dynamics of the fire. He said they were very fortunate that none of the people from the company, nor the firefighters, were inside when the sudden explosion occurred.
• At that point, heavy black smoke then began pouring out of the building and the fire extended through the roof.
• Yanak explained that they began a defensive operation over the next five hours flowing water into the building. Crews remained on the scene for over six hours. Fire crews from stations 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 responded to the blaze.
• There were no Joliet Fire Department ambulance transports for anyone who might have been injured at the scene.
• At the height of the fire, Joliet Fire Department had roughly 35 to 40 crew members on scene extinguishing the blaze.
• A crew of firefighters will remain on the scene overnight extinguishing hot spots as the building is being taken down.
• Gould Brothers informed Joliet Patch that the immediate demolition was necessary because of major safety hazards. Due to the fire, it became structurally unstable and could have collapsed.
• The cause of the fire remains under investigation.