PERU, Ill. (AP) — A fire at a massive former clock factory that police say was set deliberately provided an eerie backdrop for a northern Illinois city’s New Year’s celebrations. Despite the efforts of firefighters from throughout the area, the city landmark was destroyed.
The blaze at the former Westclox Co. clock complex, which covers a two-by-four-block span of downtown Peru, began about the time people were counting down the last seconds of 2011, Gary Eccles, an engineer with the city’s fire department, told the Associated Press. By 11 a.m. Sunday, the fire was burning itself out but had destroyed the building and caused it to cave in on itself, he said.
Karen Torri, a local resident, told the News Tribune that she was at a party and was startled when she looked out the window.
“Just as we were kissing, I looked out the window and saw the fireworks, but it wasn’t fireworks; it was fire engines,” she said.
The only reported injury from the blaze was to a firefighter who was rushed to a hospital for emergency knee surgery, Mr. Eccles said.
Police Chief Doug Bernabei said at a news conference Sunday that two boys, a 15-year-old from Peru and a 17-year-old from La Salle, were charged with aggravated arson. No further information about the teens was immediately available.
The fire, which caused propane tanks to explode, prompted a mandatory evacuation of homes near the complex. Mr. Eccles said nearly everyone was allowed to return home by 11 a.m. The exceptions were those whose homes had smoke from the fire blowing directly at them.
The building, a landmark in the city that once housed Westclox Co.’s clock and watch-making operations decades ago, was housing several small businesses, including a salon, a photo business, a lab and others, the newspaper reported.
Westclox built 44 structures at the complex from 1910 until 1956, then closed in 1980. A group of investors bought the building and sold it in 2006 to developers who said they planned to convert it into a retail and convention center while maintaining its historic integrity.
The National Park Service in 2007 deemed the building eligible for the National Register of Historic Places “because of its significant contributions to the social and economic development of Peru and the nation,” the newspaper reported.
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