Update: Some early video and more information added. Scroll down.
More updates have been added.
THE EMPRESS CASINO IN JOLIET, ILLINOIS, HAS A 4-ALARM fire in progress at this hour. The fire is not in the casino itself, but in an adjoining building that houses several restaurants.
Channel 2
The first call came in around 10 am Central time and the fourth alarm was struck just before noon. The casino complex consists of several ancillary buildings along with the floating gaming building (called a “riverboat” for legal purposes) that juts out into the Des Plaines River. The fire started in one of the restaurant buildings that is undergoing renovation and is initially believed to have been started by a welder’s spark getting into a duct which had some grease accumulation in it.
The casino patrons were evacuated and sent home as a precaution, but it is expected that the 50,000 sq. ft. floating structure will not become involved. The fire has spread, however, to a secong building just as the FD was effecting a knockdown in the orginal site. This is an ongoing event and no further facts are known yet. Firegeezer will be updating through the afternoon.
Channel 2
Update:
At 1:15 pm Central it was reported that the fire has started growing again and is spreading.
The renovations to the pavillion were begun in January and the $50 million project was expected to last all of this year.
The Joliet Herald News has a background report on the business:
The Empress already has had a turbulent history due to several ownership changes. The casino has changed hands three times since 1999.
The current owner is Penn National Gaming, which last year averted an attempt by state regulators to force it to sell the casino.
Penn National argued that the casino needed stable ownership. The $50 million renovation plan was first announced by Penn National as it was making its case for continued ownership to the Illinois Gaming Board in early 2008.
Penn National is the fourth owner of the Empress.
A group of local investors opened the casino in 1992. They sold the casino to Horseshoe Gaming in 1999.
The Illinois Gaming Board forced a sale of the Empress because of concerns about Horseshoe owner Jack Binion. Horseshoe sold the casino to Argosy Gaming, a company that later was sold to Penn National. Penn National already owned Hollywood Casino in Aurora, and the Gaming Board only signed off on the Argosy deal with an agreement that Penn National would sell the Empress.
But the Gaming Board agreed to let Penn National keep the Empress last year.
Update #2:
WFLD-TV has this early video report:
Update #3, 4:00 pm Central:
Despite being alongside a river, water supply has been a major problem throughout the incident. The FD has been applying 8,000 gpm onto the fire as it continues to spread. The roof has collapsed in the origin building and now there is concern that it might spread eventually to the gaming barge after all.
STNG
The fire is still burning and the Joliet Fire Chief says that it will be “an extended operation.”
Update #4, Saturday:
The fire was listed as “under control” at 9:50 pm Central time on Friday night, nearly 12 hours after it started. The FD remains on the scene this morning hitting the spot fires throughout the destruction.
The entire ballroom structure and the restaurant pavilion were destroyed. The casino barge was spared, but there are questions about the gaming equipment. The contaminants in the smoke that poured into the game room are destructive to electronic equipment used inside the slot machines and the casino management fears that they may have to be replaced.
STATter911 has more links and a GoogleEarth view of the complex that shows the layout of the buildings HERE.
