By Stephanie Irvine
The Manhattan Fire Protection District assisted in fighting a three-alarm blaze at the Tri-Star Cabinet and Top factory, at 1000 S. Cedar Road in New Lenox on Thursday morning.
“Shortly before 10:30 a.m., we were alerted to a potential structural fire,” Marisa Tomich of the New Lenox Fire Protection District reported.
As a result of an auto-aid agreement, Manhattan and other area units responded to the scene. The goal of an auto-aid is to get the most appropriate equipment on the scene as quickly as possible. Malone explained those types of calls are about task management.
“It was a mutual aid call. We all helped each other. If we get a fire in town, New Lenox comes to us. How many people do we need on the scene to accomplish the tasks that need to be done,” said Manhattan Fire Protection District Chief Steve Malone.
“Our engine was called on the initial dispatch with New Lenox units. In New Lenox, anything south of Rt. 30, we go automatically with an engine. At that time, we didn’t have any other calls going on,” Malone explained.
At any given time, Stations 81 and 83 are each manned with five responders, and Station 82 has three.
Malone stated that while Manhattan’s engine was responding to the Tri-Star fire call, an ambulance was still available for calls at Manhattan 81. Stations 82 and 83 would be available to assist with any other needed calls throughout the district.
Tomich reported that dispatch received several 9-1-1 calls, and when crews arrived on scene, heavy smoke and fire were visible.
When Manhattan arrived on scene, all of Tri-Star Cabinet’s employees, who were working, had already safely evacuated the building.
An employee from the Speedway gas station, which is kitty-corner from the fire, reported he could see flames over the fuel station’s fuel pumps.
“There was a lot of black smoke at first. Then, probably 15 minutes later, there were flames,” Ingles said.
Four MFPD firefighters plus Chief Malone battled the inferno, which took hours to extinguish. Manhattan’s crew and Chief Malone did not return to the station until just after 4 p.m. When the call was escalated to a full-still, a chief was due, which brought Malone to the scene.
The fire was under control when MFPD returned to its station, though the New Lenox Fire Protection District stayed to control hot-spots.
“It wasn’t just the products burning — the structure itself was on fire,” Malone said.
It didn’t take long for the fire to escalate to a three-alarm fire, as the cabinet factory and showroom were full of combustible materials, such as wood, shavings, and lacquer, which fueled the fire.
“It was a challenging fire. The amount of fuel load inside those buildings — the fire spread pretty quickly,” Malone explained.
The 85,000-square-foot facility included a production factory/workshop and a showroom. In the rear, only ashes and scorched, twisted metal from the building’s frame remained at the end of the day.
Though it appeared all of the facility was impacted by the fire, whether by fire, smoke, or water, the front showroom was still standing despite the severity of the fire.
“I was assigned to that side (front showroom). We took our lines inside the brick building, the shop, and the showroom. We were luckily able to save that,” Malone said.
The three-alarm box fire also triggered a MABAS-19 response, a mutual aid response that provides non-discriminatory mutual aid response system for fire, EMS, and specialized incident operational teams. There are 12 departments in MABAS-19.
A HAZMAT team was also on scene to block run-off from the fire draining into the sewer system.
Tomich reported that NLFPD continuously monitored air quality, and their agency did not give any evacuation orders.
Malone estimated there were probably 50 firefighters working at the scene.
Tri-Star Cabinets, Inc., opened in New Lenox in 1970 and is owned and operated by Joe Wilda Jr. and his wife, Kathy. Joe Junior took over as president of the business after his father, Joe Sr. Before moving to New Lenox, the business started in Joliet, a venture among Joe Wilda Sr., and two of his friends that began in 1966.
“It’s just one of those career calls. It was a big one. I think everyone working together really worked out, from the different companies to public works, the cops, and traffic was stopped,” Malone said.
Tri-Star Cabinets posted to the business’s Facebook page once the fire was under control. They acknowledged the devastating fire and reported all employees were able to evacuate safely.
Additionally, they offered heartfelt gratitude to the firefighters who battled the blaze and vowed they would “rebuild and come back stronger!” at the end of their post.
The cause of the fire is unknown and still under investigation.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter.