Weekend Blaze at Pike Mattress Factory
JOHNNY KINCAID
SEPTEMBER 17, 2024
Another of Evansville’s 100-year-old buildings went up in flames over the weekend. Fire engulfed the Pike’s Mattress Factory on Division Street Saturday afternoon. The Pike family has been making and selling mattresses at this location for four generations.
The smoke from the burning building was visible throughout the city while firefighters struggled to get the fire under control. A total of 60 firefighters were involved in battling the blaze.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
In recent years, Evansville has experienced several historic buildings burning down. One location, the old Pearl Laundry facility, burned in May 2023, but the rubble was left unfenced for over seven months until someone fell and was seriously injured. The city and landowners recently reached an agreement to clear the lot. Another hundred-year-old warehouse on Morton Avenue burned in 2022, leaving acres of piles of metal and bricks, and the city has not required that the area be fenced for safety.
After the fire investigation, how long will the city allow the rubble from the fire to remain?
