Ken Ponton Remembers the 1946 Departmental School Fire

Contributing Author: Ken Ponton

My parents, Earl and Florence Ponton, and my brother, Ron and I lived on the E-Z Way Bumps Road in Limestone from the early 1940s until we grew up and moved out. Dad and Mom continued to live there for the remainder of their lives.

In early February of 1946, Dad noticed a large column of black smoke rising from somewhere in Kankakee. We got into the family car and started into town to see what was burning. At that time, the Court Street Bridge had not been built and the only bridge into town from Limestone was the Station Street Bridge. We took Station Street as far as we could before being stopped just east of Schuyler Avenue by fire trucks blocking the street.

The Departmental School was on fire and burning completely out of control. We parked and walked as close as we were permitted. I will never forget the heat, crackling sounds of breaking glass, and the huge crowds drawn, just as we were, to the fire.

The Departmental School burning in 1946; the school was a forty-four year old structure that was originally built as the Kankakee Senior High School (photos from the archives of the Kankakee County Museum).