ST. JOSEPH, Ill. (WCIA) — Several restaurant owners in St. Joseph are cleaning up after two fires caused significant damages to their businesses.

The first one happened at Roch’s Place on Saint Joseph’s Main Street in the middle of the afternoon. The second fire was just steps away at El Toro.

Both owners said that they’re focused on moving forward. Roche Cain, one of the owners at Roch’s Place knew everything inside the building was fixable, but people are not. So, he, along with the other owners, are grateful everyone is okay.

“It was overwhelming at first,” Cain said.

It was a little after 3 p.m. when the fire ignited at Roch’s Place on Sunday.

Cain recalled what happened when he got the call.

“I hurried up there and, we only live a couple miles away, I could see the smoke from there,” Cain said. “We had a one-man-band playing and the smoke started barreling out of the back room, so obviously he quit and everybody got out as fast as possible.”

St. Joseph-Stanton Fire Protection District responded quickly after. Chief Josh Reese said 12 other crews came to help as well.

“I understand it was around a 105 degree heat index yesterday, and that’s warm… we put on bunker gear, air packs, and stuff, that makes it warmer, then, you’re going into the fire,” Reese said.

All while they were working to put out the fire at Roch’s Place, they had another call come in from just across the street.

“At the same time, we had a small kitchen fire at El Toro, caddy-cornered from [Roch’s],” Reese shared.

El Toro’s owner said that the fire was completely separate and isolated.
Meanwhile, the village’s mayor was proud of how the community rallied to help.

“Citizens were going to the IGA and different places and buying cases of cold water and Gatorade and bringing them down for the firefighters when they were rehabbing as they did their rotations,” St. Joseph Mayor, Jim Page, said.

It’s support like that first responders are thankful for and restaurant owners will appreciate.

“We started this kind of on a whim and thirteen years later it’s turned into a great spot. We got great food and great customers and staff,” Cain said.

One person from Roch’s Place is recovering from smoke inhalation. The owners said that she is feeling okay. As for El Toro, the owners there said that no one was hurt.

The causes of both fires are still under investigation. Crews are making repairs, so they can hopefully re-open their doors as soon as possible.

The restaurant owners said that the best way to help is to support them at their other locations, Little Roch’s in Royal and El Toro in Urbana.