Westclox complex fire « chicagoareafire.com

Posts Tagged Westclox complex fire

Guilty plea from Peru fire

Jan 26

Posted by bgshap in Fire Service News | Comments off

The Times has an article referencing a court hearing for the youth charged with setting the fire in Peru, IL last month that destroyed the Westclox facility.

On Tuesday in La Salle County Juvenile Court, a 15-year-old Peru boy said “guilty” in such a low voice, the judge asked him to repeat.

The boy was admitting he set fire Dec. 31 to the former Westclox building in Peru, which gutted about 25 percent of the structure. A firefighter was also injured. The boy’s codefendant, Steven M. Gallacher, 17, La Salle, is charged in adult court, with his next hearing to be Thursday, Feb. 23.

The entire article can be found HERE, and our previous posts with photos can be found HERE and HERE.

Tags: guilty plea in arson fire, massive fire in Peru IL, Westclox clock factory fire, Westclox complex fire

5-Alarm ++ fire in Peru (IL) – update

Jan 3

Posted by bgshap in Apparatus on-scene, Fire, Fire Service News, Reader submission | 1 Comment

Tim Olk took a drive on Monday to visit the fire scene in Peru, IL. When he went down there, they were over 30 hours into the fire and had requested a 4th Alarm for tankers to the scene. Tim found fires still burning and producing large amounts of smoke throughout many areas of the complex. He took a large amount of photos during the time he was on-scene which will be online in the coming hours. Here are a few samples of what he found in Peru. Earlier coverage of the fire can be found HERE.

Massive fire in Peru IL Western Clock Company

A Pierce tower ladder from the Mendota Fire Department works an elevated master stream into one building in the Westclox complex in Peru, IL. Tim Olk photo

Another Pierce tower ladder, this one belonging to the Peru Fire Department, works at an adjacent building. Tim Olk photo

Firefighters direct a hand line into one of the buildings in an effort to extinguish some of the fire that still burns more than day after the fire broke out. Tim Olk photo

A section of the former clock company that has been totally destroyed. Tim Olk photo

An engine from LaSalle pumps water from the porta-tanks that are constantly refilled by one of the many tankers on the scene. Tim Olk photo

A tanker from the Oglesby Fire District takes a turn at the porta-tanks. Tim Olk photo

The water supply officer prepares to send this tanker from the Standard Fire Protection District to dump it's water. Tim Olk photo

A Darley engine from the Dixon Rural Fire District pumps at the fire scene. Tim Olk photo

Firefighters were kept at a distance during the height of the fire due to the intense heat and are just now able to move in and hit all of the remaining fires. Here they douse a dumpster in a loading dock area near several burned trailers. Tim Olk photo