Major Explosion and Fire Rock Villa Park VFW Hall Tuesday

A major explosion and fire Tuesday evening at the VFW Hall, 29 E. St. Charles Road in Villa Park, sent 10 people to area hospitals, some in serious to critical condition.

It was Bingo Night at the VFW Hall, 29 E. St. Charles Road, and about 50 people had just arrived upstairs to play, Villa Park Deputy Fire Chief Steve Stapleton said. People also had gathered in the bar area.

Stapleton was among the first on the scene of the fire at about 6:30 p.m. He said he immediately knew they were faced with an enormous task.

"It was mass chaos," he said. "We had a guy hanging out the window, multiple burn victims in the front of the building, we were still getting reports of people trapped inside. What a tremendous task we were faced with."

Stapleton said multiple fire departments assisted, including Elmhurst, York Center, Lombard and Wood Dale.

"We had 10 ambulances, 10 fire companies that assisted us," he said. "I mean, it was a stubborn fire, mainly due to (its) location."

The fire started in the gun range, which is located in the basement.

"They were doing some work to the gun range, welding the metal backstop, and somehow they ignited a fire behind the metal," Stapleton said.

He said the workers tried to put out the fire, but when they realized they couldn't, they ran out of the gun range and closed the doors. The explosion happened when they got to the top of the stairs.

"(It was either) a backdraft, smoke explosion or flash fire,"Stapleton said. "That's where most of the people got burned—at the top of the stairs as they were trying to exit.

"Thank God we didn't have people on those stairs when that backdraft or smoke explosion occurred or we could have had multiple fatalities."

Those in the bar area also were fortunate to have headed out the side door, Stapleton said.

"Thankfully, they went out a side door. If they would have chosen to go up the main stairs, that would have been catastrophic," he said.

Of the 10 people taken to hospitals, two were in critical condition, three were in serious condition and five had minor injuries, Stapleton said. He did not have any information on the victims, but some may have been Elmhurst residents. The Elmhurst VFW Post 2048 and the Villa Park VFW Post 2801 merged recently.

"I'm not sure, but the VFW does have Villa Park residents, Elmhurst residents," he said. "Fortunately, the last reports I got, there is no one in critical condition anymore," he said. "Mostly first and second degree burns."

Although firefighters initially were told people were trapped in the basement, that was not the case.

"We got a search going to make sure there was no one trapped down there, which fortunately, there wasn't," he said.

While the main fire was knocked out within the first 20 to 25 minutes, the fire behind the gun range was "stubborn," Stapleton said.

We basically had to remove a fan that was built into a concrete wall in the back by cutting it out," he said. "We had to bring a ladder inside to get up over all the smoke."

The room was a bomb shelter at one time, he said.

"I think it was built in the '40s, with concrete walls, concrete floor."

Insulation and sound-proofing material might have contributed to the fire spreading. As for ammunition, it's not clear if that contributed to the explosion.

"There was ammunition down there," Stapleton said. "Was (the explosion caused by) gunpowder? Are we ever going to find out? Probably not. I think it was just because it was so tightly packaged down there, with the concrete walls and the steel in the back in such a confined area that everything ignited and just blew that fireball right up the stairs towards all those people."

An investigation is underway, led by the Villa Park Fire Department and the DuPage County Fire Investigation Task Force, which includes evidence technicians and representatives from the sheriff's department, area police and fire departments, the department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the FBI and the State's Attorney's Office.