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Residents call for ‘problem’ warehouse to be torn down after massive fire

Published

11 months ago

May 30, 2023

ST. LOUIS – Residents in a north St. Louis neighborhood are voicing concerns about the empty warehouse that caught fire Saturday evening. Many say the building has been a hub for seemingly criminal activity for years and hope it will now be demolished.

More than 12 hours after the fire initially started, firefighters remained on-site Sunday morning. Although the fire was put out around 10 p.m. Saturday, firefighters stayed overnight and into the morning to hose down a few hotspots left over from the massive fire.

“We heard some crackling, then when we looked up, we saw black smoke,” Darnell Gordon said.

Cell phone video shows the warehouse engulfed, with fire shooting out of the vacant building, and a huge cloud of smoke that could be seen for miles around the region.

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Roughly 85 firefighters responded to the scene. Although the cause of the fire is unknown, St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson believes it looks suspicious.

“It just took off too fast. The first company was on the scene, and they were preparing to take an inch and ¾ in to make an interior attack, and then the second floor just entirely lit up, and that’s a big building for it to lit up like that,” he said.

Thankfully, the fire was put out and no one was hurt, but some in the community say the eyesore, which is adjacent to multiple apartment complexes, has been a problem and has long-concerned residents.

“I’m glad they got it out, because now the building will be gone, because nobody uses it for nothing, nobody but homeless people going in there or people doing drugs,” Gordon said. “That don’t look good, it makes the neighborhood look bad,”

The former timber construction warehouse near North 7th and O’Fallon streets has been vacant for years. Now that the building is gutted and filled with charred debris, it’s unclear whether it’ll be torn down; but it’s currently unsafe.

“It should have been torn down years ago, because it’s been like that for a long time,” said a nearby churchgoer, “it just makes the neighborhood look real bad.”

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire.

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Man attacks Jeff Co. deputy with screwdriver during attempted arrest

Published

10 months ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.

Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.

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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.

According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.

Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.

Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.

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St. Louis Public Schools superintendent to be sworn in

Published

10 months ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.

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Gas tanker crashes into St. Louis Metro transit center

Published

10 months ago

July 11, 2023

Natural Bridge

ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.

The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.

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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.

A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.

The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.

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