Fire Update: No injuries reported; about 30 area residents evacuated

Furniture store has been a Burlington fixture since 1929

While most of Burlington — and the rest of the state — tuned in to watch the Wisconsin Badgers play in the NCAA semifinal game Saturday night, firefighters from departments throughout the area were racing to Schuette-Daniels furniture, 425 N. Pine Street, where a five-alarm fire was ravaging the building that houses the business that has been a fixture in the city since 1929.

“This is going to devastate downtown Burlington,” Mayor Bob Miller said about midnight Saturday as he briefed the press.

Miller and Fire Chief Perry Howard said no one was in the retail store at the time, however, about 25-30 residents living in upper flat apartments in the vicinity of the fire had been evacuated as a precautionary measure. The fire was reported about 9:30 p.m. Several bystanders reported smelling smoke in the downtown area in the 9 0’clock hour and one said she heard what sounded like an explosion near the building about the time police arrived.

The fire was under control as of midnight, but had not yet been fully extinguished, Miller said. No other structures were involved in the fire, he added, but firefighters were seen spraying water at rear of the adjacent building that houses Flippy’s restaurant and an self-serve laundry.

At the peak of the fire, four aerial trucks were spraying water on the roof of the building as firefighters vented rear windows and doorways to open access for water to be sprayed on the flames. The two-story structure has a brick and masonry exterior, but it appeared much of the interior had been gutted by flames. Officials said firefighters immediately took a defensive posture on arriving at the scene.

A bit of history

John F. Schuette founded Schuette-Daniels Furniture in 1929, according to the company’s website. In 1954 Richard Daniels joined the corporation, becoming partial owner of the business that would later involve many of his 13 children and their spouses. Richard’s son, Matthew Daniels, joined the business in 1977 and became owner in 2008 after Richard retired.

The store has had a long and dominating presence in the city’s downtown as one of the major retail outlets on Pine Street.

Please see the April 10 print edition for expanded coverage and photos of the fire.

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story quoted Mayor Bob Miller saying the fire was originally called in from a phone registered to Daniels Family Funeral Home. Officials have since said that statement was erroneous.