Evansville Courier and Press from Evansville, Indiana • 11

The Evansville Wednesday Match 1 1997 All FRANKUN INDUSTRIAL WAREHOUSE FOUR-ALARM FIRE mitm FIRE About 200 firefighters battle inferno Roof cave-mjest part of long day ByDAVEHOSICK Courier staff writer Continued from Page A1 Belmont Moving and Storage was leasing space in that part of the building Rojra said the company stored bottle cape for Silgan Containers The building been cited for any fire code violations but the Fire Department and city-county building commissioners office had been working with the owners to correct the problem Roger Lehman city-county building commissioner in an April 1996 letter to Fruth established a schedule the owners were to follow to make the sprinklers functional in the buildings that were occupied The owners had until Dec 1 1996 to make the sprinklers functional Lehman said that fire inspectors were expected to bring it to the building com Flames were shooting high into the pre-dawn aky when Evansville firefighers first arrived on the scene we got here at about 5:30 am the entire roof was up in District Chief Joe Gatewood said could not send men inside the building or get on top of the roof because we were afraid the roof office if the work had not been done Fruth declined to comment on the Some asbestos hi the roof of the building had been St saw firsthand the intensity of file blaze when he arrived for work just before 7 am we could see was one huge fireball in the sky Benton said it for the downpour this morning the fire probably would have reached the other buildings around Benton added Fire Chief Doug Wilcox commended his department for responding quickly and containing the fire with no injuries you have a building of this magnitude and that fire load you just put the fire Wilcox explained the fire gets out of hand you go into defensive mode ami limit the exposure and stop it from Battalion Chief Larry Chapman said protecting the surrounding businesses was the main concern was obvious Evansville Department since April shifts removed earlier by Specialty Systems of Indiana a local asbestos abatement company A company official sprinkler system situation Tuesday Rogers acknowledged there were a number of sprinkler systems in the warehouse and some worked and some was going to cave instincts proved correct when a large raised section of the roof gave way and collapsed It was just one event in a long day for the firefighters The department sent 15 fire trucks and about 200 firefighters throughout the day to battle the intense four-alarm blaze The fire had en- TIm Fire had not responded to a four-alarm fire theWootwoflh Co building caught fire 301990 In a four-alarm fire the FlreDe-partmenfstwo off-duty Fruth said cen- WhoaskednottO ter officials were working on cleaning out and upgrading the building A new roof had been installed and dans were to tear out the middle section to make room for more parking he said Brett Townsend environmental engineer with the Vanderburgh County Health Department said the demolition was delayed by state officials in February because asbestos had been found around pipes The asbestos had to be removed before the work could begin he said are called In to help battle the blaze or man fire stations In case other calls come bLOuringa three-alarm first only one off-duty gulfed the entire roof before the first group of firefighters could enter the building at about 7:15 am Gatewood added that the southeast portion erf1 the warehouse held plastics products which melted and shielded that we do much to save the whole building so our priority was protecting the surrounding buildings and Chapman said MelHorihan was one of two workers who remained at G-T Engineering 820 flames from the cas- Shift nSUffl- cading water from fire hoses The in- tense heat limited Franklin St just feet from the in- femo despite suggestions by firefighters to clear the area The remaining 14 workers left got pretty warm in Horihan joked TTie fire forced several sur- I 3 I firefighters to dousing flames on the roof from ladders high above the trucks stationed at each corner of the block-long building Some asbestos in the roof of the building had been removed earlier by Specialty Systems of Indiana a local asbestos abatement company A company official who asked not to be quoted said Tuesday the firm was scheduled to start work in 10 days on removing the pipe insulation He said the project was a small job and would only cost about $2000 In addition to asbestos in the pipe insulation Townsend said there were some bags cf asbestos in the basement of the warehouse He said the bagged material apparently was part of the asbestos that officials from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management daim was illegally removed and disposed effrotn other buildings in the Franklin Industrial Center in the early 1990s Fruth and a number of others have been charged with unlawful disposal of the material Townsend questioned whether the fire debris will have to be disposed of as asbestos-containing material which would push up the cleanup coats He said IDEM will have to make that decision Gatewood also noted that a fire wall located about midway from the north edge of the building saved most of the north warehouse Sprinkler systems helped to extinguish the fire in the same area and firefighters were able to contain the blaze to the south half of the warehouse Francis Benton a warehouse worker at the Warehouse 919 Franklin rounding businesses to evacuate and dose The fire did not affect business on the south side of Franklin Street other than a few minor traffic problems because of fire hoses The 700 Hock of East Virginia Street was closed to traffic most of the day when the heavy downpour of rain and water from fire hoses flooded the block Courier photo by BOB GWAUNEY Already at the fire for several hours Evansville fire- drinks and snacks from Deb Me Knight About 200 fighters line up at a Red Cross buck to get coffee firefighters were called to the four-alarm blaze Fire deals what could be fatal blow to P-47 display effort By JAMES DERK Computer research editor Tin Fantasy of Lights display featured annually at Christmastime In Garvin Park also was a casualty idlkiess fireL The Easter Seals had been storing the lights and more than 40 displays in an area in the warehouse donated by the warehouse owners Pam Kirk Easter Seals spokeswoman estimated the loss to be $336000 utts point W6 cam ooiorminfi it anytning is saivaooaoio out wnn to raoni or to Are we assume everything was lost" Ms Kirk said win have to start from scratch in wmlMAhui UiA JLlAaia auilj Laiia 4a aa4 AaiAMJIalaBW maAi Im I Ttimlliniatl In replacing me aisprays out wesnouw nave nme to get everymmg reaay oyrnannsgiving Mstirfcflrid the entire coiiertfen of lights and Hfepfays Nr covered by insurance how-evsr many Items were built by volunteers and win have to be replaced The "Madonna bus" used in the movie oflheir Own" that was timed here also was lost as wore several owned hy friends or refeHyss of the warehouse nwnwi IDEM spokeswoman Jo Lynn Ewing however said the department likely get involved unless bagged asbertos survived the fire intact and Fire Department of-ficiala sought the help in the cleanup effort Fire officials said there were no harmful quantities of any other hazardous materials in the warehouse Cliff Weaver chief of special services for the Evansville Fire Department said industries and warehouses have to inform the department if they have 10000 pounds of any hazardous commodity or 500 pounds of any material classified as an extremely hazardous substance Those quantities were not reported to be in the warehouse he said Townsend said he reported the fire to IDEM early Tuesday and classified it as a hazardous waste spill because the runoff from fire hoses and heavy rain was going into a combination sewer and flowing into Pigeon Creek But he said if any toxic waste had been in the runoff it would have been adequately diluted by the fire hoses and rain and high creek water that it would not have been harmful to fish in the creek Construction equipment was brought in Tuesday afternoon to knock down portions of walls still standing The group paid a small fine but then Citizens Bank sued to repay the loan Faced with losing the plane a former Republic supervisor Frank Whetsd personally took cm the remaining $37000 debt He worked on the plane for years restoring parts in his own garage before his death in October 1992 Ownership of the ane then fell to his son Jim A new group headed by Easley picked up the ball but raised much money either only about $1000 we owe the Whetsd family money Easley said fed an obligation to pay that off Jim Whetsd could not be reached few comment Tuesday but Easley said he doubted the lose would be covexed by insurance especially because the warehouse was donating the storage space The remaining volunteers will meet soon to decide strategy Easley said his dream of displaying a F47 in Evansville dimmed and he keeps thinking the group will hear of a P47 found in an old hangar in South America or someplace I guess not he said still love to have Evansville have one though The small but stubborn effort to restore a P-47 Thunderbolt for display in Evansville appears to have died for good after most of the historic plane was destroyed in fire P-47 is in trouble Andy Easley said in perhaps the understatement ofthe day Easley a civil engineer is president of the P-47 Foundation the local group trying to restore the fighter plane for display after it was recovered from the bottom of a Florida lake in 1986 Most of the remains of the plane were being stored in the warehouse and were destroyed by the intense heat no doubt gone Easley said pretty upset about it The fire ends a chapter in Evansville history that really began during World War II when local workers built 6242 Thunderbolts at the Republic Aviation plant now Whirlpool Corp When the war ended so did production of the F-47 Remaining planes on the assembly lineB were given free to schools Many turned than away so the planes $50000 loan to buy it They got it home and discovered the skin of the aluminum plane was nearly eaten away from the years underwater: Undaunted the Evansville group envisioned a groundswell of local support to restore the plane That support never came The P-47 Heritage Commission formed and started holding bingo games to support restoration but raised hardy enough money to pay the interest on the note before it was criminally charged with failing to register its bingo games with the state were buried or Bold as scrap metal In the early 1980s a local group that included several former Republic workers were inspired to try to locate an Evansville-built plane for display at the Boon-to-be completed airport terminal Daunted by price tags of $750000 for the few remaining P47s in good condition the local group heard cf a salvage operator who hadfoundaF47 at the bottom afalakB in central Florida The plane had crashed during a training flight Aug 12 1943 Even though it was built at a Republic factory in New York the local group figured it was close enough and took out a Courier staff writers Herb MaryneU Roberta Heiman Dave Hosick and Doug Sword contributed to this article Smoke invades the Downtown By BYRON ROHRIQ Courier staff writer Director Sherman Greer notified Central Dispatch about 5 pm that visibility near Downtown was low because of the smoke shift supervisor Kathie Emspiger said was coning down Hei-delbach Avenue and visibility was very poor at that Greer said looked down Franklin Street (east from Heiddbach in the direction cf the burning warehouse) and I see where the fire was coming from the smoke was that thick said fire Capt Bryan WQL think it possibly could be (smoke from the warehouse fire) Smoke began seeping into other Downtown buildings including the Evansville Courier Co at Walnut Street and Heidelbnch Avenue at about the same time comes in the return Will said still going pretty good And the rain keeps all that Bmdke down Emergency Management 1 The wind shifted late Tuesday afternoon carrying smoke from the smoldering Franklin Industrial Center warehouse across the Lloyd Expressway into Downtown The smoke wee believed responsible for a 4:56 pm fire run to the Civic Center where occupants reported smoke in the building and feared an electrical fire found nothing in Firefighters gather on Virginia Street to wait for orders and rest between shifts Courier photo by LARA CERRI.