By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
On Monday, Feb. 21, after the Elmhurst City Council meeting, the Independent caught up to Fire Chief Thomas Freeman to ask if there was any news about the cause of the massive fire at VIP Occasions at York
Freeman said all tests done as part of the investigation came up inconclusive, which he said means they may never know what the real cause of the fire was.
“It has a lot to do with the fact that the building is more than 100 years old and the contents inside were highly combustible,” he said. “We believe it began toward the back of the store, but no other conclusions can be determined absolutely.”
Where a building once stood…
Crews continue to clean up the area around VIP Occasions on north York St., after a fire demolished the entire building, beginning on Thursday, Jan. 26 and burning through the night and into the following morning. Fire Chief Thomas Freeman told the Independent that all tests conducted during the investigation were inconclusive and that the incident mainly had to do with the age of the building and the many combustibles inside. While many brides may have been inconvenienced, the best news is that there were no injuries reported, including among the firefighters.
