St. Charles has a History of Epic Fires

By now, most people in St. Charles have heard the news of the fire yesterday at Salerno’s on the Fox. By chance, I happened to be driving west down Main Street around 5:45 yesterday evening and at first was curious about the vast number of sirens I continued to hear. But by the time I reached the bridge, it all became clear. I could see white smoke billowing out of Salerno’s and reaching across the river.

Several thoughts immediately jumped into my mind—“It’s about to take a lot longer to stop in and see mom and dad tonight.” followed quickly by “Oh man, guess we won’t be going there for my birthday dinner again this year.” and then “Wait, I should get pictures of this for the museum!” Since traffic was not moving, I pulled out my cell phone and snapped a few shots.

As I sat there in front of the Hotel Baker, I began thinking about the buildings on either side of me that had been victims of fire in the past. St. Charles has had a number of “great” fires during the last 177 years, but both time and space prevent me from going into a detailed history of all of them! If however, you are interested to read more I would recommend you pick up the book put out in 1992 by the St. Charles Fire Department in celebration of their 150th Anniversary.

First, a little background … the first organized fire department in St. Charles was the Lafayette Fire Company of the Village of St. Charles formed on March 18, 1842. Included in the fifty-six men who signed the original charter for the company were Ira Minard, Read Ferson and Bela Hunt, three of the town founders. Each man who signed up also gave $25 towards the company, presumably for the purchase of equipment and the like.

The Lafayette Fire Company was formed in response to a serious fire the month before that destroyed several three-story buildings on the northeast corner of 1st and East Main streets. Looking around St. Charles at that time, it would not have been hard to imagine why fires were not uncommon—wooden buildings, plank sidewalks, wooden bridge … You do the math. Without an organized fire department or company, fires could quickly become a major problem!

With the organization of the Lafayette Fire Company, the situation improved but fires were still dangerous. During the 1800’s, several large fires flared in downtown St. Charles taking out many buildings including mills like the Butler Paper Mill (which actually burned down on two separate occasions once in 1856 and then again in 1866), the City Clerks Office where all City records were kept and, of course, numerous barns and homes.

In 1888, by Municipal Ordinance, the Lafayette Fire Company became the St. Charles Fire Department. Still a volunteer department but, now, a better organized one.

Skipping ahead seventy years, we come to the first of the more recent great fires to affect St. Charles. Many longtime residents remember the Kroger fire which occurred July 29, 1958. The Kroger Grocery Store was located in the building at the southeast corner of 2nd and West Main streets. According to reports the fire started in some garbage behind the building and quickly spread up an old wooden elevator shaft. By the time firemen responded to the alarm at 2 a.m., flames were already sweeping through the three story building. The fire was so large firemen from Geneva, Batavia, Aurora and Elgin were called in to help. They battled the blaze into the late morning. By 11 a.m., the front wall gave way and collapsed into Main Street. The building, which housed Kroger, Johnson’s Clothing Store and several other shops, was a complete loss with damages estimated at $500,000.

On Friday, May 17, 1963, Colonial Ice Cream was the scene of a large fire. Their ice cream plant at 118 N. 3rd St. caught fire around 12:30 p.m. This was not the first major fire for the dairy. In 1942 and 1943, the fire department had responded to calls at the same location. This time the damage was extensive and several firemen were injured during the afternoon. Again, firemen from Geneva and Batavia came to help get the flames under control.

With the building burning, the ice cream was in danger of melting. Inspection of the ice cream showed it was fine for consumption, but some of the packaging had been damaged. This led to the Ice Cream Fire Sale! Half gallons of ice cream were being sold at a fraction of their price or even being given away so it would not go to waste.

In October of 1975, the fire department was once again at the intersection of Main Street and Route 31, this time battling a fire in the Colson’s Department Store. This was another massive blaze which once again required the assistance of surrounding fire departments including Geneva, Batavia, West Chicago, North Aurora and Elburn. Because of false ceilings in the building, fighting the fire was more difficult and the firemen’s progress at times was slowed. After four long hours, the fire was extinguished.

While these are only a few of the more often-remembered fires in St. Charles, there were many others that were just as destructive and memorable. For more information on some of the other fires or for more history on the St. Charles Fire Department, stop in at the St. Charles History Museum!