Task Force finds spending reform needed

A fiery blaze engulfed Joe’s Eats II next to the Nippersink Middle School on September 22, 2004.

Erin Frumet was working at the restaurant at the time of the fire started. “I looked up and I saw a man banging on the window,” said Frumet, “I didn’t know what to think at first. He was trying to warn me about the fire at the back of the building. He works at the Pizza place next to Van’s.” Jerry Bibian, a cook at the restaurant, was also working at the restaurant at the time.

The fire began shortly after 6:00 pm. Flames rose skyward to a height of 50 feet as scores of people watched from a safe distance. Firemen cut holes into the roof to apply water to subdue the flames. Very heavy black smoke exited the building from the windows after the flames were doused. Nearby electric transformers exploded and showered sparks into the street. Commonwealth Edison was immediately brought in to fix that problem. Van’s food store, located just south of the building, lost its electricity. The heaviest damage occurred in the back portion of the building that was unoccupied at the time of the fire.

The building is situated on Route 12. Rush hour traffic from the north was rerouted to head west on South St. The large number of rerouted cars caused backups in the subdivision as owners looked for ways to find alternate routes. One resident commented that he had never seen so many cars in the area. Fire officials estimate the damage to be $300,000. Fire departments from many towns including Spring Grove, McHenry, Antioch, Fox Lake and Wonder Lake and Twin Lakes, participated in quenching the fire. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Fire destroys Joe's Eats II