Sycamore Fire Department’s ladder truck, which was purchased for $1.4 million in 2025, did not respond to the fire that left the home of Tom & Jerry’s restaurant unusable.

Sycamore Fire Chief Bart Gilmore said there was no one to man the ladder truck when the call for a fire at the storied eatery went out.

“The reason it did not respond was because, 10 minutes before that call went out, an ambulance call emptied out Station Two, where Ladder One is stored,” Gilmore said.

The building at 1670 DeKalb Ave., which was the home of Tom & Jerry’s restaurant and Catering by Diann was gutted by an early-morning fire on Jan. 31.

Officials estimate that the building sustained $1.5 million worth of damage, according to a Sycamore Fire Department news release.

During a Sycamore City Council meeting on Monday, two days after the fire, Gilmore said not having enough Sycamore first responders to man the district’s first ladder truck wasn’t an unforeseen circumstance.

“I’ve talked for the last three years about how we’re on the knife’s edge of being out of people,” Gilmore said. “Saturday morning, we ran out of people. I had nobody come back on department recall; we were utterly reliant on other cities.”

Firefighters from Batavia, Burlington, Cortland, DeKalb, Elburn, Genoa-Kingston Fire and Rescue, Hampshire, Huntley, Kirkland, Pingree Grove, Shabbona and Waterman responded to the fire, according to the Sycamore news release.

One firefighter was taken to Northwestern Medicine Kishwaukee Hospital for what Gilmore called a “relatively minor injury.”

The restaurant was closed at the time the call for a fire went out, and no restaurant or catering workers were hurt in the blaze.

In a social media post this week, the owners of Tom & Jerry’s thanked the public for its continued support during a tough time. They have not endorsed any specific GoFundMe pages that have been created to support the business, but have promised to give the funds to their staff.

In the wake of the fire, area restaurants have offered to support the business by selling Tom & Jerry’s T-shirts. MVP Sports Bar, PJ’s Courthouse Tavern, The Dirty Bird 815, Pub 64 and Ski’s All American Pub are all selling the shirts, with 100% of the proceeds going to Tom & Jerry’s and Catering by Diann employees.

Gilmore said he’s trying to create a pathway toward more staff at the Sycamore Fire Department.

“We are currently working with the city manager and staff to come up with a hiring plan,” Gilmore said. “What I would ask of this council is that whatever comes out of that discussion, that you will be willing to support it.”