A commenter notified American Urbex that the abandoned factory in Algonquin, IL went up in flames early this morning. Firefighters responded to the scene around 4:40 am on Monday, October 18 when several passing motorists called the fire in. Fire departments were able to contain the fire and did not send crews inside. No injuries were reported and the fire is under investigation. The building has been declared a total loss.
The two story abandoned Toastmaster factory has been abandoned for nearly ten years. The factory used to produce shell casings and small appliances. The complex was designed by architect William Abel and opened as Peter Brothers Manufacturing Company. It has sometimes been documented in the urbex community as the “Algonquin Toy Factory.”
It is always a shame when an urbex location disappears. The factory was already slated for demolition to make room for an expanded highway project. Given the early morning hour when the fire started I would not be surprised if arson is found to be the cause. The building’s demise will now certainly be hastened. I’m glad I had a chance to explore and document it in the interest of preservation when I did.
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ok i was at this factory on sat the 16th the 1 odd thing i found was their was an old crane off to the side by a hole in the fence on sat when i returned simply bc it is 1 of the better abandoned locations ive found that old broke down crane truck was parked right next to the building and their is no way that thing could drive possibly to add to an insurance claim on top of that nothing is in the factory to start a fire it was set for a costly demo their is no way this isnt arson