The view north along Washington Street showed an almost tidy collection of building rubble, swept back from the street and sidewalk. Care had been taken. Owners/renters were involved in the clean up process on Wednesday, July 17, 2013, two days after an early-morning fire destroyed a series of buildings.
Although the first floor of D’s Varieties and Crafts–the yellow building at 336 Washington Street–was standing, the second story was a wreck. Owner Dolores Francis hugged and comforted the Editor saying, “I’m okay! I’m all right. The town has suffered a loss, but it will be all right.” She posed in the doorway of her business, wondering if she could retrieve the giant stuffed bear her son had given her. It was wet, so she decided not to have him retrieve it.
“I just put up the new awning [no longer visible] a week ago Monday!”
Francis is living with her niece, Sena Warkins. She wants customers to know she will continue to make ornaments, possibly at Warkins’s business, Imprintable Memories, 106 E. Third Street, Rock Falls, IL. Call Francis at 815-499-0201.
Five contiguous buildings were “gone” and part of a sixth.
Missing from the skyline from south-to-north were The Ceramic Center, KM’s Monogram, Majeski Motors, Twisted Scissors, and Cindy Jean’s Restaurant. Next in line was a vacant building that also housed the town’s Historical Museum. Like D’s Varieties and Crafts, the upper stories were missing.
An open door to the museum ironically stated the obvious. Someone had left behind an American flag, draping it deliberately along a display fence.
Bev Peterson, Prophetstown Historical Society member, gratefully reported firemen brought out much of the building contents. Then they took her inside to retrieve items. Resident Gerald Halpin made available his large building at the south end of the street for storage.
“We have received a lot of help!” she said. Jennifer Ringenberg Malone grew up in Prophetstown; she offered expertise to dry and preserve photos. The president of the Hampton, IL, Historical Society has spent two days volunteering and “has a lot of experience.”
In the future, they may use two rooms of the 1834 Asa Crook House to display their collections. “We have a lot of decisions to make. Right now, we’re working on preservation.” They expect to receive the maximum amount of insurance from this ordeal. Peterson concluded, “This is a can-do community. We’ll make it.”
With the capable help of Prophetstown firemen, one building at 338 seems to have stopped the fire from advancing south past D’s Varieties and Crafts. It is a former bank, with arched window openings that echo the first-floor arches at the entrance. It, too, displyed a flag, mounted to a pillar. The space is used by 3rd District Appellate Court Justice Vicki Wright.
The firewall on the north interior her building was not in peril, but the stairway beside it could have been. Steps to the apartment above were wood, as were those to her basement. Had they caught fire from the upstairs rental, Wright’s interior would have caught fire. Sue Nelson rented the apartment at 338 1/2, but she was not at home during the fire. Her cat was rescued by a fireman.
The danger stemmed from the wooden soffit outside the apartment, at the back of the building. Firefighters established a position on a wooden staircase leading to Nelson’s space. They soaked the overhang, to stop the spread of flames from the roof of D’s Varieties and Crafts. A charred beam from the latter’s roof lay at the edge of the back porch of Wright’s offices. The fire was dangerously close and would surely have spread all the way to the end of the block.
She described seeing firemen kneeling in the street, spraying water on her building as the sun rose Monday, July 15.
“It looked like they were praying,” she said.
Judge Wright praised firemen for their extra concern. She was called to the scene. Each man was assigned to a building owner, allowing them inside when possible. One man pulled her picture of the Constitution off the wall to save it. She described how the fire crew neatly gathered her furniture and contents to the center of four offices, covering it all with tarps for protection. Even though court records were safe within a safe, at 6:00 a.m. firefighters carried them outside to safety.
Along an entire wall are her precious “law libraries” of Judges Dan Dunagan, L. E. Elison, and Robert Castendyke. The entire collection was saved.
Judge Wright’s computers were being loaded into a truck for tranfer to Springfield, IL, where they will be dried and cleansed. No water had entered her spaces, but today the building inspector would determine if the historic structure can be saved from demolition.
She noted supporters can purchase t-shirts from Jamie Moser at 815-499-4160. Judge Wright’s shaved head was a recent gesture of support for Morrison’s Shawnelle Soenksen.
Staff worked at Hartig Drug, which sustained some smoke and water damage, at 316 and 318. Prescription refills are being transferred to other drug stores at this time.
Main Street Executive Director Eileen Detra described help from the Illinois Main Street program. Prophetstown’s crisis has been added to their website. They have contacted Governor Patrick Quinn on the town’s behalf. IMS will make a donation to the local organization. Like Francis and Peterson, Detra is positive Prophetstown will rebound.
It is helpful to know professional cleaning services are available in such a situation. The outpouring of support is to be treasured most.
