Empress Casino Fire in Joliet Illinois Finally Under Control

by Tina Kells | March 20, 2009 at 07:33 pm

1333 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

A raging fire that ripped through the Empress Casino in Joliet Illinois is finally under control although a spokesman for the fire department was cautious with his comments. The Empress Casino, located on Route 6, was hit by a major fire at 10am after a kitchen flare up grew out of control. Parts of Route 6 near the casino and the ramp from Interstate 55 were closed while firefighters tried to extinguish the blaze.

Firefighters were unable to save the ballroom but were able to stop the fire from ravaging the casino floor and hotel towers. Fighting the Empress Casino fire was a logistical nightmare for firefighters who were hampered by insufficient access to fire hydrants. Water trucks had to be brought in to help the firefighters.

The official cause of the fire is under investigation but it is not clear how the fire spread out of control so quickly. There have been unconfirmed reports that sprinkler systems in the hotel were not working properly and that improperly stored grease traps caused the fire to quickly gain momentum.

"They are still battling some areas," Hegarty said. "There's some demolition equipment on the scene right now, helping to tear down part of the structure to ease (in the process of) finally getting this fire under control and eventually put out completely."

Joliet fire Chief Joe Formhals said an endloader was brought to the scene this afternoon to sever the walls connecting the barge-style casino and office complex from the burning building. Firefighters had a hard time dousing the blaze due to extensive remodeling work that has taken place several times during the building's 18-year history.

"We had to break through two or three ceilings," Formhals said. "All of the add-ons and improvements caused a lot of void spaces. You could be inside the building and not see the fire overhead."

At the evening press conference, Hegarty said the casino area was not touched by fire.