The day after the fire: May 24, 2005. Photograph by Michael R. Allen.

LOCATION: 1312 Warren Street; Old North St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri
DATE OF CONSTRUCTION: c. 1870-1880
DATE OF ABANDONMENT: 2002? - present
CURRENT OWNER: John Malon

Posted June 12, 2006

On May 23, 2006, Michael and I were returning home around 10:30 and saw several fire engines and a Salvation Army vehicle flashing their lights on the 1300 block of Warren. We quickly found out that the gorgeous brick building at 1312 Warren had a fire. The firefighters estimated that they got the call around 10:00.

The building was vacant, so luckily there were no people injured. This is the same building that was stripped of its pipes and bathtub in recent weeks. So it's taken some hard, hard hits recently.

We never saw any flames -- visible flames were gone by the time we got there. We left before the engines did, when there was still the very slight smell of old wood burning. But the building looked like it'd definitely suffered some smoke damage, and probably other damage that we couldn't see because it was so dark. I did, however, see firefighters' flashlights moving around on the second floor of the building and in the attic, so at least we know it still has passable floors. I hope something positive can happen for this building and this block soon -- they sure need it.

~ Claire Nowak-Boyd