Six buildings in downtown Minonk were destroyed by the worst fire in the history of Minonk. It is thought that the fire started around 4:30 am in the upstairs apartment of Vision Videos at the south end of the 500 block of Chestnut Street. The fire spread rapidly and ladder trucks from Pontiac and Eureka and a snorkel truck from Washburn were brought in Fire departments from Flanagan, Benson, Metamora, Roanoke, Rutland, Dana, Gridley, Secor, Wenona, El Paso and Lostant were also brought in as the fire spread to the 5 other buildings.
The city water supply was unable to provide enough water for the fire. Tanker trunks from all the fire departments plus one from FS Service were continually bringing in water from the ponds in the Minonk area.
The fire quickly spread to the Meyer-Jochums Agency building at 118 W. Fifth Street. Soon the fire broke through the firewall to the corner building that housed Leiken & Leiken law office at the corner of Fifth and Chestnut. Owner Ned Leiken said he could smell something electrical or even smoke the day before and checked his building and could find no problems. He reported his concern to the Meyer-Jochums Insurance Agency and they checked their building and could find no source of electrical problems or smoke.
The fire had spread west down Fifth Street to engulf a building housing an eye doctor and also the side entrance to the Meyer-Jochums Agency. It also spread north to the Hewitt building. Gas and electric lines were cut during the fire and restored around 1:00 pm. The grocery store next to the Firestone building did not suffer any damage.
By 10:30 am the fire was under control but the snorkel unit continued to drench the burned out buildings until 12:30 pm to make sure all fires were extinguished. No one was injured in the fire.
All six buildings except the Hewitt building were demolished after the fire as they pose a safety hazard to the surrounding area due the potential collapse of the buildings. The Hewitt building will be taken down later this week.
The buildings were the heart of downtown Minonk and will leave a gaping hole in the downtown district. For a video of the fire
click here
Below are pictures of the Minonk fire.
