Larry Helms joined the Wheeling Fire Department in October 1986 and was named chief in September 2007, and this one blaze that destroyed the former Island Exposition Hall involved the largest structure of his 34-year tenure.
“As far as building size, yeah, it’s the biggest fire I’ve seen here, and that’s been more than 30 years,” Helms said. “But I believe we had more firefighters at the brush fire in Fulton back in 2017, but that was because that was a pretty unique situation for us. We don’t have many brush fires.”
The chief said at least 40 firefighters were on the Wheeling Island location during the first few hours on New Year’s Eve, and more than 20 were called in to serve as backup for other city emergencies. Crews remained on scene throughout the night, but only the Ladder 1 crew was on site at 12:30 p.m. yesterday. By 3 p.m., Helms reported, the fire, including all hot spots, was out.
But how much water did it take?
And what was the cause?
Aqua.
“I know at one point, our firefighters were throwing 11,000 gallons of water per minute on that building,” Helms said. “The objective was to save what could be saved without going inside, so we got it as wet as possible.
“Our guys accessed the hydrants that were in the area, and we thought about tapping into a new grid, but when it became obvious to us that the building was just going to burn, we decided not to,” he explained. “We did what we could do to keep things like the power lines safe, but it was going to burn.”
Water was sprayed on the former Exposition Hall for nearly 18 consecutive hours, and at a rapid rate, so how much water did it take to get finally drown the blaze?
“Once we had all of our lines established when it was fully involved, we were dumping a ton on it, so overall, including Wednesday, I know it has to be over a million gallons,” Helms reported. “I’ve not yet done the math, but now that I think about it, it could be over 2 million gallons. It took a lot because of what was in the building.”
The Cause?
While investigators already have reviewed the video surveillance of the area provided by the owners, Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack, the investigation into the cause of the fire continued today.
“And the video does not show any suspicious activity,” the fire chief said. “It was all quiet in that area until our dispatcher received the call.”
The structure was used for storage by the casino once parent company, Delaware North, ceased allowing for reservations for wedding receptions and other events. Built in 1924 for the West Virginia State Fair, the Exposition Hall was home to the Wheeling Island Roller Rink for many years.
“The investigation is just beginning, but because of the way the fire burned, my guess is that it was something electric in a ceiling area,” Helms said. “That roof went up quick and collapsed, so that tells me that area had to be burning the longest, but we will see what the investigators determine.”
Helms has Memories, too.
He skated there when he was kid growing up in East Ohio, and he took his two daughters there when they were young, but then Chief Helms could only watch the massive blaze destroy the former hall.
Helms was attending the Wheeling Nailers game at Wesbanco Arena when he received a call from the Ohio County 911 Dispatch Center, and when he walked out of the arena, he immediately smelled the smoke.
“The wind obviously was blowing east because it was in the air when I got outside on the way to my car,” he said. “When I looked over there, I knew it was something no one ever wanted to see.
“I believe it was less than 10 minutes after our first companies arrived when the ceiling collapsed,” Helms explained. “The ceiling was steel, but with a flame that hot, that steel just folds and collapses. The building went up quick because of what was stored inside, but that meant our people didn’t have to go inside.
“At first, our intent was to see what we could save, but once it was fully involved, we couldn’t do anything more than get it as wet as possible, and stand around wait to see what we had to react to next,” he continued. “It was a really big fire.”
