Investigation continues into cause of Abell’s fire

State Fire Marshal’s Office involved due to significant loss

By Kellen Olshefski

Editor

State and local officials are continuing investigations into an early-morning fire that ravaged Abell’s Bar and Restaurant in Elkhorn last Friday.

According to City of Elkhorn Fire Department Chief Rod Smith, the fire was initially reported at 4:52 a.m. by a passerby, as well as one of the restaurant’s owners, Ryan Ahearn. Smith said he was on the scene within seven minutes and when he arrived fire was already protruding through the roof of the building.

Smith said the fire was controlled within about 45 minutes, and put out within three hours.

Smith said with the building being an older structure that’s been added onto several times, there were a lot of void spaces where the fire could go undetected due to the building’s construction. He said he doesn’t know how long the fire had been burning before it was noticed, though once it reached oxygen it was a fast moving fire.

Smith said a total of 18 fire departments responded to the six-alarm fire, many of which were used as water tenders, as there are no hydrants in the immediate area. Smith said water was trucked in by 15 water trucks from the industrial park near the Mann Bros. property, about a quarter mile down the road.

According to Smith, departments that responded to the call included Elkhorn, Whitewater, Lauderdale-La Grange, East Troy, town and city of Delavan, Troy Center, Darien, Sharon, Eagle, Lyons, Town of Bloomfield, Town of Linn, Milton, Rochester, Burlington, Clinton and Palmyra. Smith said Clinton was unable to send any support at the time and both Burlington and Rochester were on their way to the scene, but were called off as the fire was already under control.

“It was a MABAS box alarm, a mutual aid box alarm system,” he said.

Smith said the first three alarms brought the department three extra engines and an extra ladder truck, with an additional five squads. The last three alarms, according to Smith, were for water trucks.

Smith said he wanted to thank all of the fire departments that aided them in battling Friday’s blaze, as well as the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office.

“You know you can rely on your neighbors, they’ll help when you need them,” he said.

Investigation

As a result of the amount of fire loss, Smith said the department brought in the State Fire Marshal’s Office to conduct the investigation. He said in regards to those questioning why officials from the Department of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms are involved in the investigation, it’s simply because they are a part of the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Smith said the department didn’t bring the state in because it’s investigating arson, but simply because of their expertise and their resources.

“It’s just standard procedure when you have a significant-loss fire,” he said.

Currently, Smith said there is no determination as to what caused the fire, though he can say that the origin was in the kitchen-area.

Though Smith said an amount of damage hasn’t been determined yet, from personal experience he’s assuming it is likely a total loss.

Smith said depending on when the insurance company can get the people it needs out to the site for what he referred to as the “dig” process of the investigation, when they actually dig through the debris from the fire, the investigation could be completed anywhere within the next three weeks.

“Our initial thoughts are on paper, but we can’t release anything until we get confirmation on our thoughts,” he said.

As of Thursday afternoon, the restaurant and bar was listed on keeferealestate.com at a cost of $500,000. A listing agent from Keefe real estate’s Elkhorn office confirmed that the property is up for sale and has been for several years.

Survivors

According to Smith, the six tenants of the building, including a family of four with two children, and one dog, had been evacuated from Friday morning by Ahearn prior to fire crews arriving on scene.

Smith said he thinks it’s a good thing that the fire was noticed when it was. He said with the families living above the restaurant, the outcome could have been tragically different.

“Ryan Ahearn did a tremendous job of getting the occupants notified and getting them out of the building,” he said. “In my mind, he’s a hero.”

Smith said the American Red Cross has been involved in helping the victims find places to stay and that the family of four has been staying in a home of the father’s employer for the time being.

“All of their needs aren’t met yet, but we’re working to get them met,” he said.

Smith said that while going through the investigation process Monday, people were dropping off donations for the families at the former Booze-and-Go next door.

Ahearn’s wife, Nora, said Monday night that they were holding one more collection for their tenants on Tuesday. She said the community has been overwhelmingly supportive and the response donation-wise was also so overwhelming that they were just collecting household items on Tuesday.