DeKalb building suffers $100K damage in fire

DeKALB – Nathan Winston Services owner Daniel Gackowski and another employee were assessing the water damage from an overnight fire left inside the business Wednesday.

The trophy and plaque engraving company at 136 N. Third St. in downtown DeKalb is on the lower level of a mixed-use building.

About 1:15 a.m., one of the upper-level apartments caught fire, killing a dog, displacing the apartment tenants and closing the business until Monday.

Fire officials estimated the damage at $100,000.

“People can still get ahold of us,” Gackowski said. “We’re going to be operational again as soon as possible.”

Late Wednesday morning, the building’s curbside was littered with shards of broken glass and blackened furniture. The apartment windows were boarded up.

The laser and engraver was still functional, but Gackowski was busy Wednesday afternoon ensuring the computer system, which contains a digital database of clients, was dry enough to start up again.

“If we’re going to have to replace it, it’s going to be ... a lot of money,” Gackowski said.

No injuries were reported, fire officials said. Tenants in both apartments were relocated with the help of the American Red Cross. Crews from Sycamore, Malta, Somonauk, Maple Park, Genoa-Kingston and Cortland fire departments assisted at the scene.

With wind chills reaching minus-30 degrees Wednesday, crews also battled the weather. A gauge broke on a fire engine because of water freezing, Fire Chief Eric Hicks said.

A similar situation occurred at a fire in Sycamore on Monday night.

“That’s just the kind of things you battle in the cold,” Hicks said. “You’re going to have freeze-ups. It’s just part of cold-weather firefighting.”