By By NORMA LERNER / Niles Daily Star
EDWARDSBURG – Firefighters from eight departments fought stubborn flames erupting from a two-story apartment building in Edwardsburg Friday afternoon. They were unable to save the building, built in 1881, but kept the fire from spreading to nearby structures.
A burning skillet in one of three upstairs apartments reportedly started the fire in the building at the corner of Lake Street and U.S. 12.
The fire started sometime around 4:30 p.m. when smoke was spotted by a passerby on Lake Street who called the Edwardsburg Fire Department.
Ontwa-Township Edwardsburg Police Chief Kenneth Wray said everyone escaped from the building. There were no injuries reported to the approximate 100 firefighters who were on the scene.
In addition to Edwardsburg, units were called from Penn Township, Harris Township, Cleveland Township, all of Indiana; Cassopolis Village, the City of Niles, Howard Township and Porter Township. One of the fire trucks from Penn Township in Indiana who was called to the scene along with other units was delayed about 10 minutes by a train going through the village.
The old building once housed a funeral parlor, a theatre, an opera house, the Bank of Edwardsburg, the Masonic Hall, a hardware and a home-improvement store.
There was one apartment downstairs, and the most recent business in the building was the Real Deal Resale Shop, which moved out last month.
Firefighters worked to douse the fire until about 3 a.m. Water was hauled in by tankers and poured into huge tubs for the firefighters to pump on the fire.
Fire Chief Harold "Willie" Eltzroth said the fire was difficult to access because of the old building's several layers of walls and roof structure. At one time, the loud alarm from a fire truck sounded for firefighters to get out of the building, which was filled with smoke. One firefighter said he was glad to get out of there.
There were no reported injuries to the firefighters. One building occupant was taken to a hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.
By evening, a wrecking firm was called in to knock down the walls since they were burned from the frame and ready to fall down. The downtown area was shut down by police to keep vehicles from entering as hundreds of spectators viewed the fire. Two limousines were seen driving through town by the library square.
Electric power was cut off, and JoAnn Boepple, curator of the Edwardsburg Area Historical Museum and wife of firefighter Richard Boepple, was inside the museum across the street from the fire with a flashlight to let people in to use the bathroom.
The Salvation Army and the Red Cross was called in for assistance and provided hot beverages to the firefighters in the old fire station on Main Street. The Edwardsburg Fire Department provided sandwiches for the firefighters.
Owner of the building is Scott Lang of Edwardsburg, who was unavailable for comment.
Edwardsburg contractor Troy Treat offered temporary quarters in his Village Heights Apartments for the burned out occupants while Shane Drudge of Edwardsburg provided furniture and bedding from his Real-Deal business next to Harding's grocery on M-62.