The historic Apple Valley Motel along old Route 66 in Mitchell, Illinois, was gutted by fire Sunday, according to several media outlets in the St. Louis region.
The Belleville News-Democrat reported the blaze involved at least a dozen rooms. The newspaper also posted this video from the scene:
The newspaper, which reported the motel was believed to have been built in 1949, was a total loss.
Miller said the fire is believed to have started in the room closest to the motel office. It quickly spread from there into the office and the manager’s quarters.
“The case has been referred to the State Fire Marshal because it started in a place where there is no reason for a fire to start,” Miller said. “There is no obvious cause.”
The Apple Valley Motel was at 701 E. Chain of Rocks Road (aka Route 66) in Mitchell.
The motel was being used by eight long-term tenants. None of them was injured, but the manager suffered minor burns to his feet trying to retrieve personal items during the fire.
The Alton Telegraph reported that some fast action by a nearby resident prevented injuries:
Dale Dickey was working in his back yard nearby when he saw thick smoke begin to rise over the motel. He ran over and began frantically banging on doors to help alert anyone inside.
Dickey said people emerged from three or four of the doors he knocked on.
“They left everything they had inside,” he said, adding that the fire spread throughout the wood-framed structure extremely fast, noting that there wasn’t time to move a couple vehicles parked up to the building. When the first firefighters arrived, the motel already was fully engulfed.
The Telegraph also reported the motel’s owner, Jon Bunch, lived on the premises. Dickey told the newspaper that Bunch told him Bunch’s cellphone had been plugged into an area where the fire originated. Bunch’s parents owned the motel for many years before he took it over.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the motel before had been built after a fire.
Here’s a photo of the motel from 2012:
The Apple Valley Motel was listed in a few older editions of Route 66 guidebooks, including “Roadtripping USA” and the Route 66 Dining and Lodging. Online review for the establishment weren’t stellar, but apparently it still catered to a few Route 66 travelers now and then.
(Captured image of the Apple Valley Motel fire from Belleville News-Democrat video; image of the Apple Valley Motel in 2012 by Bruce Wicks via Flickr)
I can’t tell you how sad I am to learn of this. I stayed at the Apple Valley in the Summer of 2011. Amenities were sparse, definitely no frills, some people might call this “roughing it” but I loved it. I sat under the awning with fellow guests, many of whom were oil drillers and had a good time. It’s a shame that we lost this one. To me, Route 66 was never about going first class all the way. I thought places like the APPle Valley were the REAL Route 66 — a piece of Americana
What a shame. My wife and I stayed here near the start of our 2012 Route 66 trip at the end of a long day and were given a very warm welcome at the Apple Valley motel. We’ve still got a souvenir pen/screwdriver that the owner gave to us. At least everyone got out safely without serious injuries.
The Telegraph also reported the motel’s owner, Jon Bunch, lived on the premises. Dickey told the newspaper that Bunch told him Bunch’s cellphone had been plugged into an area where the fire originated. Bunch’s parents owned the motel for many years before he took it over.