Second major Princeville fire in last seven months
Seven central Illinois fire departments helped control a blaze in a warehouse adjacent to the Country Feed & Supplies store in Princeville on Feb. 12.
PRINCEVILLE -Despite a blaze that summoned fire departments from all over central Illinois, Country Feed & Supplies store will be open again very soon – albeit at a new location.
The Village of Princeville will allow business owners Nathan and Lindsay Wineinger to set up a temporary storage container at a village-owned lot across from the store. Beyond that, Nathan Wineinger said they could be moving back into their building at 116 E. Spring St. within two weeks.
Plans to open a restaurant are delayed indefinitely, though, Nathan Wineinger said.
Lindsay Wineinger was in the building and was painting in the new restaurant area when the fire broke out in an adjacent warehouse at about 12:30 p.m. on Feb. 12. “It sounded like a door slam,” she said. “Once I saw and smelled smoke, I called 911.”
An electrical fire was determined to have started the fire, according to Chad Hughes, Akron-Princeville fire chief. Nathan Wineinger said a spark of some sort ignited pine bedding, which then spread to straw and hay in the warehouse.
Hughes said it took time to gain access to the warehouse but, after breaking down a garage door, firefighters were able to control the blaze within 40 minutes.
A two-foot gap between the Country Feed & Supplies store and the warehouse minimized impact to the store to smoke and water damage, Nathan Wineinger said.
But the other next door business, TJC Tire, shares a roof with the warehouse and suffered more damage. The tire store is closed indefinitely until roof repairs can be completed, Nathan Wineinger said.
Akron-Princeville was the first fire department to respond and calls went out afterwards to several neighboring departments, including Brimfield, Elmwood, Peoria, Chillicothe, Wyoming and Toulon.
Officials said there were no injuries in the fire.
This is the second major fire in Princeville in seven months. Last June, a fire destroyed Los Jimadores Mexican Restaurant.
