Cary machine shop destroyed by fire

Gary Fischer was speechless as he watched fire crews clean up what was left of Gage Grinding Co., a Cary business that's been in his family since 1962.

Crews have begun tearing down the remnants of the tool and die shop after one of the biggest fires in years left only the building's brick and wooden frame standing among the smoldering rubble Tuesday morning.

A cloud of white smoke lingered over the village's east side more than an hour after crews doused the fire Tuesday afternoon.

"I'm doing fine. I've got a lot of things going through my head," said Fischer, who took over the family business after his father, Hugo, died in 1984. "It hasn't hit me yet."

Gage Grinding Co. was responsible for creating the dies that make lids for beer, soda and ham cans, said office manager Amber Fischer, Gary's wife.

It also partnered with Quaker to make tools that shape certain cereals, including Cap'n Crunch.

Their sons Jim and John Fischer and son-in-law Robert Coe carried on the family tradition by working there as well.

Family members and the five tenants in the three upstairs apartments were meeting with the Red Cross to plan their next steps.

"Nobody's hurt, that's the main thing," Amber Fischer said. "We can get through this."

Officials estimate that damage done to the early 1950s building could top $1 million.

The fire broke out just before 9 a.m. at the shop at 30 S. Northwest Hwy.

Firefighters from numerous departments - Crystal Lake, Nunda Township, Wauconda, Woodstock, Palatine, Elgin, Hoffman Estates, West Dundee, Lake Zurich, Fox Lake, Wonder Lake and Marengo - worked for almost five hours with the Cary Fire Protection District to bring the fire under control.

"I've never seen such a coordinated team in my life," said Dan Streit, who owns a nearby boat shop and witnessed the response.

Help would have come from the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District, but they were tied up with a fire at the same time in Algonquin.

Eleven people were working in the shop, which covers the lower floor of the 15,000-square-foot building John Fischer, a manager at Gage, said he smelled smoke and went to the compression room in the rear of the building, where he saw flames shooting from the ceiling.

At that point, he evacuated everyone from the shop and ran upstairs to get all five tenants out of the apartments.

Thanks to him, Cary Fire Lt. Michael Douglass, all escaped without injury, Douglass said.

Although firefighters were able to save one pet cat, several others and a lizard named Merv perished in the blaze.

The fire is believed to have started in insulation at the rear of the building, though an investigation is pending.

Witnesses described heavy green smoke above the village as crews battled the blaze.

Later on, the smoke turned brown and billowed across the afternoon sky.

Water from the fire hoses mixed with oil inside the building and ran from the building into the streets.

The McHenry County hazardous materials team showed up and laid out pads to absorb the oil so it wouldn't pollute the Fox River, Douglass said.

Earlier in the day, traffic in and out of the downtown area was rerouted. Route 14 reopened at 2:05 p.m.

A fire that broke out in one of the three upstairs apartments in 2005 was ruled accidental, fire officials said.

Cary fire crews have been busy in recent weeks.

On Monday, a fire gutted Oberheide's Soft Landings Tavern at 203 E. Main Road, while fire crews put out a garage fire in Oakwood Hills, north of Cary, on Sunday. No injuries were reported at either fire.

Douglass said the fire district battles an average of seven fires a year. Tuesday's blaze was the district's fourth in two weeks.

The Fischers, meanwhile hope to keep their family tradition thriving in Cary.

"It depends on what the insurance company tells us," Amber Fischer said. "It'll definitely be going somewhere if they don't let us rebuild here."

The Cary Grove Masonic Lodge, located next door to Gage Grinding Co., has set up a charity fund at Cary Bank and Trust to help the employees and tenants who lost their homes and jobs in the fire.

If you would like to donate, call Dave Chapman, the lodge's past master, at (847) 639-1045.