Fires destroy 2 businesses in 1 night

Last Sunday night was a busy one for volunteer firefighters all across Mineral County with fires in St. Regis and Superior.

The evening started with a fire at the main building at Freeman’s Post and Poll on Highway 135 at around 2 a.m. When the St. Regis Volunteer Firefighters arrived they found an extensive amount of smoke pouring out of the front of the building so they set up there and called for backup from surrounding fire departments.

The Superior Volunteer Firefighters got to the scene before the West End Firefighters because they had a shorter drive and set up at the back of the building in hopes of keeping the fire from spreading. The Superior Fire Department had two tender trucks and five firefighters with them and the West End Fire Department had three trucks and several fire fighters.

Superior Fire Chief John Woodland said that much to their surprise, they found out that the actual fire was in the back of the building where the West End and Superior firefighters were set up. The hydraulic equipment in the back of the building was on fire and it was sending the large volume of smoke to the front of the building.

Woodland said that they moved in with hoses and subdued the fire. When things looked like they were settling down, Woodland said that he and his firefighters left the scene and headed back for Superior.

“Then we started back, thinking that we were going home,” Woodland laughed.

On the way back to Superior at around 3:30, Woodland received a call that there was a fire burning at Lucky Lil’s Casino on Diamond Road.

Woodland instructed dispatch to sound the alarm and headed for the fire with his current crew. They also contacted the Frenchtown Fire Department, since all of the firefighters on the west end of Mineral County were occupied with the other fire, to cover their department headquarters in the event of another fire.

When they arrived at the scene, there was smoke pouring out of the Lucky Lil’s Casino, but relatively little smoke in the adjoining gas station. When he checked the windows, Woodland found that he could feel how hot the room was through the double and triple paned glass windows.

In order to vent out some of the smoke and heat that was building in the room, the firefighters cut a hole in the roof of the building. Woodland said that the hole they opened up was only moderately effective and they did not have the equipment that they needed because they were only responding as backup to the other fire.

He said that when six more firefighters arrived on the scene with a pumper truck, things turned in their favor. They set up a smoke ventilating fan and sent in firefighters with a hose and a thermal imaging camera to stop the blaze.

When firefighters first got into the room they suspected that the building may have been a victim of arson because there was so much debris on the floor, but as the smoke cleared they realized that the fire had been so hot that all of the decorations on the wall had simply melted off. Woodland said that while he was checking the heat at one window he watched as a neon open sign melted off its mount and dropped to the floor.

Woodland said that the firefighters were not particularly concerned with the gas pumps on the other side of the building since they have automatic shutoff valves and the bulk of the fuel is contained underground. They did stop all fueling and cleared the gas station of people.

The main problem the firefighters dealt with was a lack of personnel on the scene.

“We sure could have used more man power; it would have made things go a little more smoothly. We always need more manpower but I think the guys did an absolutely professional job on it and really did a nice job of putting out the fire,” Woodland said.