CHILLICOTHE, Ill. – The building that houses a Chillicothe boutique store is a total loss after a fire Thursday morning.
The fire at Sweet Finds on 4th and Chestnut Streets was called in at around 3:30 A.M.
Chillicothe Assistant Fire Chief Jim Benisch says heavy smoke was seen in the back of the building, and believes the fire started in a back room. He is unsure at this time of the origin of the fire, but doesn’t believe it to be suspicious.
Benisch says there were some challenges initially in putting the fire out.
“A lot of congestion in there, and a lot of flammable flammables being clothes, cardboard, materials of that nature, not hazardous flammable,” Benisch said. “So it was somewhat challenging for us to get on the inside until I had additional support coming in.”
Benisch says another challenge was trying to put out hot spots in multiple layers of the roof.
Multiple fire departments were called in to help assist Chillicothe. Those include Akron-Princeville, Dunlap, Peoria, Peoria Heights, Lacon-Sparland, and Henry.
Crews were on scene putting out hot spots until around 1:00 P.M., and a portion of 4th St. was closed for several hours to fight the fire.
Benisch says there were no injuries to firefighters reported. He says damage to the building and its contents are estimated between $300,000 and $400,000. An emergency demolition of the building was ordered.
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