Woodstock firefighters respond to a flurry of lunchtime calls
A smokehouse at Carr’s Meat Shop in Jacksonville was heavily damaged when a smoking cabinet malfunctioned near noon on Monday, June 24.
“It was approximately, oh, 10 by 10 feet, but had a 200 lb. propane tank beside the building that they used to run the contained smoking cabinet,” said Woodstock Fire Chief Harold McLellan.
The call, which came in just before noon, gutted the smokehouse, leaving only the outside metal sheathing standing.
Chief McLellan highlighted the swift action of the firefighters when an adjacent building started to catch fire. One of the firefighters, who happened to work nearby, arrived on the scene with his gear. As soon as the pumper arrived, he was able to tackle the fire immediately.
The department had 11 firefighters on the scene.
While responding to that fire, the department was dispatched to the TD Bank in downtown Woodstock at 12:10 p.m. for fumes in the building.
“They had a boiler problem, so they closed the building for the rest of the day while they get that taken care of,” McLellan said.
Just before 1 p.m., firefighters responded to an apartment building in downtown Woodstock. Chief McLellan said someone accidentally set off the smoke alarm while cooking.
