(Update) Decades-old mill will burn out before fire investigation starts

A view of the fire, still burning, from downtown St Joseph.

A cloud of smoke continued to drift over a large area of St Joseph from the fire at the decades-old Schreiber grain mill facility near Eighth and Mitchell Monday morning. The investigation into the cause of the blaze has not yet begun, because the fire is still burning.

Fire crews responded to one call on the north end of the city at about 7am, after a resident smelled smoke inside her home. There was also a lot of smoke outside her home, all of it coming from the fire on Eighth Street, nearly five miles away. Smoke from the fire was visible in the neighborhoods around I-29 and Frederick, which is about four miles away.

There were no injuries reported. Fire crews were dispatched to the area at around 1am. They quickly made the decision to let the fire burn itself out.

“There really isn’t anything to put out,” said Mike Neylon, the St Joseph Fire Department’s Chief Training Officer. “Plus, it’s fallen in on itself, and it would require a lot of man work, to expose it, to pull all the old stuff off, to get to the center of the fire.”

“There’s nothing of value being lost other than some 75-year-old lumber.”

Fire crews at the scene worried about the possibility of hazardous materials within the burning structure.

“There was a possibility,” Chief Neylon said. “I’ve never heard it confirmed or denied, or a name put on any hazardous material. There’s much more concern about the surrounding structures than the structure itself, which was a pile of lumber.”

Aerial water canon and large hose used to protect adjacent structures — Crews deployed water canon and large hose to protect adjacent structures

So an aerial truck and a heavy fire hose were deployed to pour water on the neighboring buildings.

Just over a year ago, the owners made their first effort to tear down the building, but some of the refuse from the demolition wound up in the middle of Eighth Street. It was later determined that the owner had not put up the proper fencing, so that project was put on hold.

Fire inspectors will wait until the fire is out before attempting to determine the cause. Meanwhile, an engine company remained at the scene by 10 a.m. Monday to make sure the fire didn’t spread.