St. Louis firefighters are continuing to battle a blaze that engulfed abandoned buildings south of downtown on Friday.
St. Louis Fire Department officials say that a fire near Second and Gratiot streets has been burning at four abandoned buildings since early morning.
The site is part of a $1.2 billion, 100-acre redevelopment planned for the city’s riverfront. No injuries were reported.
Smoke from the fires could be seen from miles away.
Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson told KSDK that firefighters from multiple agencies responded. He added that it’s expected to be several days before the fire is completely extinguished.
Jenkerson also said firefighters had to evacuate homeless individuals from the buildings.
In a statement, Mayor Cara Spencer said, “Brave firefighters have been battling this 5-alarm fire since the middle of the night.”
“Their dedication to serving our community and keeping us safe, while facing the dangers themselves, is truly admirable,” Spencer said.
The planned developer of the site, Good Development's Greg Gleicher, said Friday: "These buildings have stood for generations as part of St. Louis’ riverfront industrial heritage, and seeing this damage is deeply saddening. We do not yet know what happened and will wait until the emergency response has concluded and officials are able to provide more information. For us, Crunden Martin was not only a cornerstone of our Gateway South vision but also a symbol of the city’s ability to reinvent and reuse its historic fabric, and while it is too early to know the full extent of the damage or the long-term implications for the project, our commitment to this area and to St. Louis has not changed."
