Fire spreads to multiple businesses in downtown Du Quoin

FOX23 News at 9 p.m.

DU QUOIN, Ill., (KBSI) — A major fire at a downtown Du Quoin lumber company has spread to nearby buildings, damaging multiple businesses and prompting a large mutual-aid response.

The Franklin County Office of Emergency Management and Communications said crews are battling a fire involving multiple commercial structures that has reached at least five alarms.

Firefighters and emergency resources from four Mutual Aid Box Alarm System divisions are assisting the Du Quoin Fire Department. MABAS Division 68 and neighboring divisions are providing personnel, fire apparatus, specialized equipment, communications and operational support.

The Franklin County agency’s communications division is providing dispatch and communications support as the MABAS Division 68 Communications Center. Its Special Operations Drone Team has also been deployed to provide aerial support to incident commanders and emergency personnel.

Departments assisting with the response include:

Du Quoin Fire Department
Baldwin Fire Department
Benton Fire Department
Buckner Fire Department
Carbondale Fire Department
Carbondale Township Fire Department
Carterville Fire Department
Christopher Fire Department
Coello Fire Department
De Soto Fire Department
Dowell Fire Department
Ewing Fire Protection District
Herrin Fire Department
Jefferson County Fire Department
Lake of Egypt Fire Department
Makanda Fire Department
McLeansboro Fire Department
Mount Vernon Fire Department
Nashville Fire Department
Pinckneyville Fire Department
Sparta Fire Department
Steeleville Fire Department
Tamaroa Fire Department
Tilden Fire Department
Waltonville Fire Department
Wayne City Fire Department
West City Fire Department
West Frankfort Fire Department
Woodlawn Fire Department
Zeigler Fire Department

Residents may experience low water pressure and occasional power outages as firefighting operations continue. CN and Amtrak rail traffic through the community has also been halted.

Pinckneyville Ambulance is also assisting. Additional resources include a MABAS Mobile Support Unit from Southern Illinois Airport and a Division 68/47 water-supply task force.

Du Quoin Mayor Josh Downs described the fire as “massive” and said it has affected several businesses. Downs said when he arrived shortly after 2:20 p.m., the structures were already fully involved.

“You’re just seeing a couple of hours worth of them trying to put this fire out, save any part of the structure that might be left,” Downs said. “Everything was fully involved. And, to this point, still don’t know what started it.”

Downs said the damaged businesses are part of the backbone of downtown Du Quoin and described the fire as a major loss for the community.

“I mean, these businesses, the fiber and the fabric, backbone of your town, it’s just terrible,” Downs said.

Downs said residents and businesses quickly began helping first responders by bringing water, coolers and ice to the scene.

“We’re going to band together,” Downs said. “Multiple people have brought water up here, coolers. We went in the hardware store and just, I said, ‘Hey, I’m grabbing coolers off your shelf. We’ll take care of it later.’ We went in the restaurant, got ice.”

Du Quoin resident Carolyn Allen said she watched the fire spread from Home Lumber to other nearby businesses.

“It went from there to Craftsman’s to BJ’s restaurant,” Allen said. “As you can see, there’s been over 25 fire departments all around the area.”

Allen said she has lived in Du Quoin for years and hopes the community will rally around the affected businesses.

“I’ve lived here for a while and it is a tragedy to see this has happened, and hopefully the town of Du Quoin can pull together and help these businesses out,” Allen said.

Residents may experience low water pressure and occasional power outages as firefighting operations continue. CN and Amtrak rail traffic through the community has also been halted.

Downs said the city has opened a cooling center at City Hall and is asking residents to conserve water as firefighters continue drawing heavily from the city’s supply.

He asked residents to avoid unnecessary water use, including running dishwashers, doing laundry or leaving water running for long periods of time.

Officials are asking the public to avoid downtown Du Quoin and give emergency crews room to operate safely.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

This is a developing story. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.