By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Just a few short hours before President Bush would arrive at Niles High School, heavy clouds of dark smoke travelled down South 11th Street as an intense fire consumed the Niles McDonald's restaurant.
Niles Fire Chief Larry Lamb said the fire broke out at about 9:51 a.m. as a maintenance employee was using a heating device to thaw the pipes of a freezer unit in the storage room.
He said the maintenance employee noticed some embers near the ceiling and immediately notified management and called 911.
The restaurant was evacuated and no one was seriously injured. One firefighter received a minor injury to his foot and was treated by SMCAS on the scene.
He explained the McDonald's was not required to have sprinkler systems because of the occupancy and size of the building and that they were not in violation of any codes.
The Niles McDonald's, which employs nearly 70 people, is owned by an Indianapolis firm that owns about 30 other McDonald's restaurants.
Lamb said the firm plans to demolish what is left of the structure as soon as possible and reconstruct a new McDonald's within the next four months.
McDonald's manager Peggy Wilken did not want to comment on the unfortunate event on Monday evening. She said the restaurant would soon be releasing a statement regarding the fire.
The estimated loss is $500,000 for the structure and $500,000 for the contents.
The fire departments responded within minutes and attempted to make an interior attack on the building, but they were unable to slow the quickly spreading fire. The fact that the roof of the structure was a parallel cord wood truss, which is known for losing its structural integrity quickly in fires, caused the building to burn at a very rapid rate, Lamb said.
Seven fire department responded to the scene including Niles, Niles Township, Clay, Bertrand Township, Howard Township, Buchanan Township, and German Township. The Berrien Springs Fire Department was also called in to stand by at the Niles Fire Station. Lamb said several of the area fire departments were at increased staffing levels because of President Bush's visit to Niles on Monday. He said the City of Niles Fire Department had planned on assigning crews to stand-by for the president's detail beginning at 11 a.m. Lamb stressed the importance of having sprinkler systems in place, despite the cost of having them installed.