(KSDK) -- The cause of Monday's fire at a Granite City warehouse remains under investigation. On Sunday night Firefighters were called to the Vandalia Warehouse. They put out a small fire only to be called back hours later.
Firefighters spent yesterday trying to get the fire under control as it burned through the block long warehouse.
A city block and a part of Granite City, Illinois history were destroyed in the massive fire today. The fire consumed several buildings, including a warehouse more than a century old, used now for tire products.
Smoke filled the skies over St. Louis all morning as the massive warehouse raged. The original fire occurred at 9:40 p.m. Sunday night, in the warehouse district along Niedringhaus Road. The fire at the Vandalia Warehouse, was confined to a section of the office building, and was put out with the help of sprinklers. Fire crews returned to the scene Monday morning around 4:40 when the fire re-kindled.
The Vandalia Warehouse complex, built of wood on the inside and brick on the outside has been reduced to rubble. The complex takes up nearly two city blocks.
Last Stand Fails It appears that the firewall, created through efforts of the Granite City Fire Department and mutual aid teams called in, has failed. The firewall represented fire crews' last stand to save the Michelin Retread building which contains thousands of tires.
Fire Rapidly Spread Fire officials say efforts to contain the fire were hampered early due to the wood material inside the warehouse. Crews began setting up a defensive firewall between the warehouse and the adjacent Michelin Retread warehouse in an effort to prevent the tire warehouse from catching fire.
Fire Is Overwhelming Meanwhile, firefighters battling the massive warehouse fire say they're overwhelmed. They say lack of manpower and water have prevented crews from succeeding in putting this fire out.
This is a 100-year-old building. Much of the structure is made of wood, which continued to fuel the fire.
The Vandalia Warehouse is leased to Fox Industries and is located on Niedringhausen bear Benton and Adams avenues in an industrial area in Granite City.
Authorities won't say the fire is suspicious, but call the blaze "curious.
