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Vergennes still works to rebuild post office

BY ADAM TESTA, The Southern

Monday, June 30, 2008 10:56 PM CDT

VERGENNES - Almost a year after fire ravaged the U.S. Post Office and an adjacent warehouse, residents of Vergennes reflect on their loss, the fireworks that caused it and whom they blame.

On the morning of July 25, 2007, firefighters from around the small Jackson County community battled a blaze that started inside the Bastien Seed Co. building and spread to the post office. The efforts of Postmaster Phyllis Fisher prevented the loss of mail from within the building, which was destroyed.

Officials later determined the fire had been started by fireworks that had accidentally been shot into the building by teenagers in the early morning hours.

"That was the whole problem," said Mayor Tom Scott. "We had unsupervised children at 2:30 in the morning. The parents are the ones who ought to be the ones responsible."

While the fireworks that caused the fire were illegal in Illinois, Scott and other residents don't blame the explosives but rather the people using them. Scott added that they should even be made legal in Illinois because of the simplicity of crossing state lines into Missouri and bringing them home.

Winford Ramsey of Vergennes said fireworks play an important role in the way many younger people celebrate the Fourth of July and other events. Banning them would likely not accomplish anything, as "kids will be kids," he said while advocating adult supervision.

"There ain't no way they're going to get away from kids doing it," Ramsey said of lighting fireworks. "That's a lot of fun for kids."

In the wake of the fire, the post office was immediately moved to the village's community center, where it remains. Plans are in place, however, for the owner of the property to rebuild and for the post office to resume its location, said Valerie Hughes of the U.S. Post Office.

There is no timetable in place, but "we plan to move right back in at the same spot," Hughes said.

adam.testa@thesouthern.com / 351-5031@thesouthern.com / 351-5031