Fire destroyed a St. Louis warehouse used by Reedy Press, along with all the stored books by several Route 66 authors, according to several media reports.
Smoke from the five-alarm fire that began Wednesday morning was seen for miles, reported the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. At one point, part of the building collapsed onto a firetruck, and two firefighters suffered minor injuries.
Officials said the blaze may burn for hours, as 150,000 citronella candles also were stored there. KSDK-TV reported Styrofoam and car seats burned in the building.
Several businesses leased space at the warehouse:
One of those companies, Reedy Press, is a small publishing company. It used its part of the space to store book inventory, according to Don Korte, a sales employee for the company.
He wasn’t sure how much of their inventory was in the warehouse, but said that the fire will have a major impact on the small company. Korte emailed authors to let them know.
Reedy Press started in 2003. The company publishes a range of books, with a specialty in local interest and commemorative projects.
A Facebook post by Reedy Press mid-afternoon Wednesday stated all employees at the warehouse got out safely, and it would give an update once more information was available.
It remains unknown whether Reedy Press’ inventory was insured, or whether the blaze destroyed the publisher’s other valuable intellectual property.
Among recent Route 66 books affected by the fire are Jim Hinckley’s “100 Things to Do on Route 66 Before You Die,” Jo Ann Kargus adult coloring book “Route 66 Splendor,” and Jim Ross and Shellee Graham’s “Secret Route 66.”
Their listings on Amazon.com all indicated stock was available, but it remains uncertain whether that’s correct.
UPDATE 11/17/2017: Reedy Press vowed to rebuild and reprint 200,000 books lost in the fire, reported the Post-Dispatch. The publisher is working with its insurance company to get back on its feet.
(Screen-capture image of warehouse fire Wednesday by St. Louis Fire Department)
Dare I say it again: no sprinkler system in a high risk building?