St. Louis authorities seek cause of fire

ST. LOUIS -- Fire officials on Wednesday were trying to determine what caused a blaze that gutted the top floor of a St. Louis landmark building.

No one was hurt after fire broke out around 10:40 p.m. Tuesday at the headquarters of Nestle Purina PetCare just south of downtown. More than 100 firefighters responded to the fire. Security and cleaning crews inside at the time were able to get out safely.

In a statement, Nestle Purina said damage was limited to the building's upper floors and no damage estimate was available. The building was open Wednesday, but about 700 workers were relocated to other offices or worked from home.

The building stands out in the city's skyline and is part of the company's "Checkerboard Square" campus. The campus is home of the North American's business of Nestle Purina PetCare, the pet food subsidiary formed from the takeover of Ralston Purina by Swiss-based Nestle SA.

The $10.3 billion merger, announced about a year ago, was approved last month, ending Ralston's 107 year history as an independent company. Ralston, the name left behind in the Nestle buyout, was started by William Danforth in 1894 as a horse-feed business.

Authorities said the fire, which started in the southwest corner of the executive floor, triggered the building's alarm. It left smoke and flame pouring from windows underneath the company's large "checkerboard" logo.

"Our first units saw some smoke and by the time they got up onto the floor, there was a lot of fire up there," said St. Louis Fire Capt. Bob Hennicke. It took about an hour to put the fire out.

It was nearly 40 years ago that three people died in a fire on the Ralston campus. On Jan. 10, 1962, a mill exploded into flames that went uncontrolled for 20 hours, killing two Ralston employees and the captain of Engine Co. 25, Roy J. Simpson.