SALEM Firefighters battle blaze at former china plant

The building dates to the 1890s, and part of it is still being used.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
and NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
SALEM -- About 40 firefighters from six departments battled a blaze that destroyed a three-story section of the former Salem China Co. plant at 1000 S. Broadway.
A Perry Township firefighter suffered an ankle injury at the fire, which broke out shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday. Firefighters were still on the scene this morning.
The cause of the blaze has yet to be determined, but it doesn't appear to be suspicious, fire Chief Walt Greenamyer said today.
Condemned
The section of the 1890s building that burned had been vacant and condemned for years, said Fire Capt. Tom Eastek.
The whole building is owned by the Pidgeon family of Salem, which owns Church Budget Envelope.
The company had some printing machines in a part of the building that's adjacent to the section that burned. Workers for the company also use that part of the brick and timber structure.
Church Budget's main operations are in a different building on South Ellsworth Avenue.
A company spokesman was unavailable this morning.
Estimated damage
Eastek estimated combined damage to the active part of the building and its contents at $50,000 to $60,000.
The burned section of the building was engulfed in flames as firefighters arrived, with flames coming through its roof and windows, Eastek said.
Because there was only one hydrant in the area, water supply was limited, and firefighters were forced to lay additional hose to two other hydrants to get sufficient volume, he said.
Salem and Perry Township firefighters were assisted by colleagues from Green Township, Damascus and Beloit. Fire investigators were to probe the scene later today.
"It's a piece of our history that's being lost," David Stratton, director of the Salem Historical Society Museum, said today.
Coincidentally, the Salem China Co. was the topic of a round-table discussion held earlier this week by the historical society.
The building was constructed in 1898 with additional sections being added in ensuing years, Stratton said.
Until the late 1960s, plates, saucers, cups and other china were manufactured at the plant, which once employed hundreds of people.
After about 1968, manufacturing of china ceased there and the plant became a receiving and shipping location for china manufactured elsewhere.
China-related operations ceased entirely in the late 1990s, and the plant was sold.