Fire at Greenhorn Saloon in Morris

MORRIS – No injuries were reported Wednesday morning in a fire at the Greenhorn Saloon, 303 Bedford Road in Morris.

“We received a call early Wednesday morning,” Morris Fire Protection and Ambulance District Chief Tracey Steffes said. “As soon as I got in my car, I heard on the police scanner that there was smoke and flames visible. On arrival, we saw that there was fire and smoke coming from the back corner. I knew there were apartments above the business, so we wanted to get everyone out.”

Steffes said there are three apartments above the business and that his department had help in removing the occupants.

“There was a gentleman that is a police officer in Kankakee County already on the scene,” Steffes said. “He was off-duty, but he immediately went in and started helping the people in the building to get out of the second floor along with our guys.”

The Morris Fire Protection and Ambulance District was assisted by several local departments. Trucks and personnel from Braceville, Dwight EMS, Dwight Fire, Braidwood, Minooka, Wilmington, Gardner, Channahon, Seneca, Coal City, Plainfield, Oswego and Grundy County Emergency Management Agency were on the scene.

“Every time there is a fire, I am proud of everyone that comes to help,” Steffes said. “All of the people that show up are well trained, and it makes it easier for me to command when they already pretty much know what to do. Everyone who was here did a phenomenal job, not only of fighting the fire but getting the people out of the apartments.

“There are going to be some people that are displaced, but no one was injured or sent to the hospital.”

It was the second fire in a building that contains apartments this week in Morris. On Sunday morning, an apartment building at the corner of West Washington and Calhoun streets also caught fire, but there were no injuries in that fire, either.

“We don’t know if the two fires are connected,” Steffes said. “We are still in the process of investigating.”