St. Louis City firefighters responded to a fire overnight at a vacant restaurant in the 3400 block of South Kingshighway Boulevard, between Fairview Avenue and Potomac Street, on the western edge of the Tower Grove South neighborhood. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The fire broke out at a vacant restaurant. As reported by FOX 2, officials said the vacant property has had ongoing issues with people staying inside.
The stretch of South Kingshighway where the fire broke out sits along the border of Tower Grove South, a neighborhood that counted 12,719 residents and 6,961 housing units as of the 2020 U.S. Census, according to data from the City of St. Louis. The neighborhood is bounded by Kingshighway to the west and Grand Boulevard to the east, per the same city data.
Why Vacant Buildings Draw Overnight Occupants
The fire comes amid a string of overnight fires in south St. Louis. Separately, people have sought shelter in vacant or fire-damaged properties, reflecting a broader challenge connecting housing insecurity and vacant structures.
The St. Louis American has reported that St. Louis has approximately 6,000 vacant buildings.
How Firefighters Assess Risk Inside Derelict Structures
The St. Louis Fire Department announced a vacant-building hazard database after the line-of-duty death of Fire Captain Benjamin Polson in a derelict structure collapse, according to the St. Louis American. Polson was the first St. Louis firefighter killed on duty in nearly two decades, and the database now gives responding crews advance warning about compromised walls or decayed floors before they enter a structure.
Legal Exposure If Occupancy or Arson Is Confirmed
Knowingly entering or remaining unlawfully inside a building is classified as first-degree trespass under Missouri Revised Statutes § 569.140, a Class B misdemeanor, according to FindLaw.
Whether utilities at the restaurant were legally connected or had been tampered with, and what physical evidence investigators recover from the rear of the structure, remain open questions in this case.
