Tri County Stockdale's Fire May Top $2 Million Damage

SHOREWOOD, IL — Tuesday's 4:30 a.m. fire at the Tri County Stockdale retail business on Black Road caused more than $1 million in damage, and Troy Township Fire Chief Andy Doyle predicted the damage loss could top $2 million by the time damage assessment gets done.

Doyle led a 4 p.m. news conference on Wednesday at Troy Township's main fire station off Route 59. He was joined by the EPA as well as the Will County Health Department.

Doyle told reporters there is nothing suspicious about the early morning fire. Nobody was on the property at the time of the tremendous blaze, one of the largest business fires in the Joliet area in recent history.

The fire destroyed practically all of Tri County Stockdale's property including several pole barns where fertilizers, pesticides, chemicals and animal feed were stored, according to the fire chief.

"As I stated, the fire started. We are still under investigation," Doyle told reporters. "The investigation team continues to do interviews, go through some of the rubble to see what the cause of origin is .... This is a high dollar loss for us and for the occupant, it's well over a $1 million loss."

Doyle said that it may take at least one month before fire investigations are able to determine what caused the 4:30 a.m. fire.

Doyle said Troy Township's firefighters were returning to the ruins Wednesday night to check and make sure that hot spots are taken care of and to keep the smoke dampened down.

"The U.S. EPA has been out here since last night monitoring the air quality ... but we can say that from their monitoring, there is no public safety risk at the time."

Within the past few years, Tri County Stockdale was acquired by the DeLong family. They have hired an environmental cleanup service to clean up any environment problems that may exist.

Doyle said the ATF is also assisting with the fire investigation because they have more technical resources and expertise than the Troy Fire Protection District.

"And the reason we called them out is, 'A, is this suspicious, which we don't suspect this is a suspicious fire, but because of the high dollar loss. We're probably estimating for sure at least $1 million. We have not gotten into what the contents are inside the building, so once we get through the contents, it could be up to a $2 million loss."

Joliet Patch asked Doyle if any animals died in the fire.

"From our knowledge, all the animals got out," Doyle answered. "There were some chickens, ducks, a few exotic birds that were rescued and taken care of. They've been taken off site to another location. Some of them were injured."

Original Joliet Patch coverage:

Massive Tri County Stockdale Fire Under Control: Fire Chief