More than 100 firefighters from nearly 40 departments spent hours yesterday morning battling flames that destroyed a downtown Farmington bar and its attached apartments and businesses.
Farmington Fire Chief Anthony Scapecchi tells WGIL crews responded at 1:40 a.m. yesterday to the blaze at the Crossroads Bar, just half an hour after the business closed.
“When we got there, we saw fire rolling out the back, north end of the building,” Scapecchi says. “We went in there and did an offensive attack at that, and in about three minutes we had to pull everybody out and go to a defensive attack because it started going through the walls and the roof.”
The Associated Press reports that flames spread from the bar to an insurance company, an information technology store, a women’s health store and attached apartments.
Scapecchi says no one was hurt, adding that the American Red Cross stepped in to help those displaced.
The fire chief says the town came out in a big way to make fighting the fire easier.
“It was overwhelming, the support from the town,” Scapecchi says. “I mean, they brought food and water and coffee and everything.”
He further credits the support of neighboring departments.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation by the Illinois State Fire Marshal.
