Morton Industries still evaluating financial damage of Thursday fire

Multiple fire departments in the Peoria area responded to a fire at Morton Industries on Thursday afternoon. As of Friday, Morton Industries was still cleaning up the damage from the fire and "evaluating" how much damage was done.

Steve Stewart, the director of people and culture at Morton Industries, told the Journal Star that Morton Industries did not yet know the financial costs of the damage done to the building. He said any reports of financial figures tied to the fire were "absolutely not accurate."

"We know nothing at this point," Stewart said of the projected cost of the fire. "It's still being cleaned up, still being evaluated. We're working through all the processes."

Morton Mayor Jeff Kaufman said the fire started at 2:49 p.m. outside the business at 70 Commerce Drive, off Interstate 74 in Morton. Fire Departments from East Peoria, Morton, Washington and Deer Creek were on the scene.

The blaze was contained to a storage area outside the business. Fire crews had difficulty putting out the fire because they needed to move storage receptacles to locate the flames. Stewart said heat from the fire did damage some things inside the building that would need to be repaired and replaced.

"Everyone was evacuated and is safe, and we’re thankful for that," Stewart said.

Founded in 1946, Morton Industries specializes in tubing and sheet metal fabrication.

"We're seeing what we can do to get back to operating quickly," Stewart said.

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Morton Industries still evaluating financial damage of Thursday fire