The St. Joseph Fire Department is still working to put out hot spots as the Pioneer building continues to smolder in downtown St. Joseph.

“We’re still watching this east wall.  The crack is getting a little larger which tells us that gravity may soon bring it down,” said Chief Training Officer Mike Neylon with the St. Joseph Fire Department. “We’re moving everything back as far as we can possibly move it and still get water where we need it.  It may get to the point where we have to do it from above.”

Firefighters arrived on the scene at Francis and 5th St. Monday shortly after 10:30 a.m.

“We’ve been here continuously.  Moving crews in and out so they can get something to eat and a bath,” Neylon said. “The streets are going to be blocked until this structure can either be knocked in or deemed to be not a collapse danger.  Which nobody can get in it until we put it out and we can’t put it out because we can’t get to it.”

A timeline for leaving the scene is not yet known. He said at this point the plan is to just douse it with water.

“At this point that’s all we have.  We are not going to go inside to try to move any of the stuff so we can get at the deep-seated fire.  We’re going to hit it from above and hope we can soak it out or flood it out somehow because we are not going to enter that structure,” Neylon said.

The fire department plans to keep two companies at a time at that location.

“We’ve got a new crew that came on at 7 o’clock this morning and we’ve already turned out four companies so everybody is going to get a turn today to come out and man this hose,” Neylon said. “We’ll move them in and out and bring in fresh companies so these guys can go grab some groceries.”

He said people coming to see the ruined structure is another issue authorities have been dealing with.

“We’ve got people that will just walk right up to the building.  We just kind of lose sight of them and think ‘nobody is that stupid,’ but yeah they are.  It requires constant observation and that’s another reason we’re going to have to have people down here.  We’re going to have to keep staff down here to keep the lookers out,” Neylon said.  “Everybody wants to get they best picture for Facebook and that’s what we’re dealing with.”

Authorities are asking people to avoid the area.

“There’s nothing to see it’s just a smoldering pile of rubble and you don’t want to be near it when this thing cracks,” Neylon said.

The surrounding buildings were evacuated Monday, Neylon said they are letting people back into nearby buildings.

“We are allowing them in but suggesting they don’t stay there if they are right in front of this building,” Neylon said. “We can’t guarantee their safety is the simple fact.”

Electricity was shut off to several buildings including the Montee Law Firm right next to the Pioneer building.

“Light and Power is waiting for an underground vault to clear so they can start the power again,” Neylon said. “They can’t get to it until we let them in, so it’s a nightmare.”

The cause of the fire is undetermined.  Neylon told us Monday that there were rumors of illegal occupants inside the building which could have been the reason behind the fire.  No victims have been found.