Arlington Park 40 years ago: Racetrack’s regulars recall devastating blaze

Today, an open field — save for a few bushes, trees, and the occasional coyote — is the quiet setting at Euclid Avenue and Wilke Road in Arlington Heights.

Perhaps, one day, it may become the home of the Chicago Bears, who now own the sprawling 326-acre site.

But the sights, sounds and smells of what happened 40 years ago on this day are forever burned into the memories of those who had strong connections to what was Illinois’ grand horse racing palace, Arlington Park.

The fire that broke out in the racetrack’s Horseman’s Lounge during the early morning hours of July 31, 1985, is perhaps the biggest blaze in suburban history.

It required a massive response of hundreds of firefighters, who at one point were pouring more than 4,000 gallons of water a minute onto the burning structures.

Officials even considered bringing in munitions experts from Fort Sheridan to blow up part of the grandstand to stop flames’ spread, but they eventually decided to pull back and let fire overtake the building.

No humans or horses were injured or killed.

The event served as the starting gate to what was a miraculous finish line only 25 days later. After 7,000 tons of melted, blackened steel were torn down and hauled away, temporary tents and wooden bleachers were erected and the race dubbed the Miracle Million went on.

Racetrack owner Dick Duchossois’ new stately six-story grandstand with cantilevered roof opened in 1989. It was demolished as part of the Bears’ redevelopment of the property in 2023.

Here is what some of the old racetrack’s regulars remember about the day of the fire:

The employee

Bobby Belpedio normally left his Elk Grove Village home and arrived to the track before 5 a.m. each day. Belpedio — Arlington’s longtime clocker, who spent more than 50 years at the track and retired when it closed in 2021 — regularly timed morning thoroughbred workouts that often began before dawn.

“I actually was pulling up there at like 4:30 in the morning. The fire trucks were all on the scene already. They had the barn area open where we could pull in. But I worked out of the grandstand, which we naturally couldn’t get to,” Belpedio said.

The initial feeling — maybe hope — of the employees and horsemen who were gathered there was that the fire would be contained to the area of the Post and Paddock Club, the upscale 1930s-era building where track’s posh parties were held and executive offices were housed.

But flames spread to the grandstand and the fire grew out of control. Belpedio watched through the morning and into the early afternoon, when the massive roof collapsed and the blaze surged east through the building.

“Every time they put a spot out in the grandstand, it would pop up somewhere else. It just got out of hand. It was a horrible sight to see,” Belpedio said. “It was just so heartbreaking.”

The executive

Tom Finch, Arlington’s director of marketing, had an office at the jockeys’ quarters off the paddock — on the opposite end of where the fire started. He, too, received unconfirmed reports by late morning that the fire was contained.

“In fact, (then track President) Joe Joyce came out and did a little press conference while the thing was burning and said that the firemen were working on it,” Finch said.

But what began as an electrical fire in the ceiling of the Horseman’s Lounge spread through a maze of wood, steel, walls and ceilings that had been constructed through decades’ worth of remodels.

“Every couple of years they’d come up with a new concept,” Finch said. “I remember building the handicappers’ information center, which was a big project for me. Where there used to be a concession stand, we just covered that up with some drywall and put some paint on it. … It was in front of what was something else before.”

Earlier that morning, Finch remembers seeing Earlie Fires, Arlington’s all-time winningest jockey, removing his tack, saddles and other equipment from the jockey room.

“I said to him, ‘Hey Earlie, they got this under control. You don’t have to take your stuff out. The fire is contained.’ And I’ll never forget him saying to me, ‘Tom, that’s what they told us at Washington Park when it burned down.’”

The fan

Jay Carpenter and his father left their Arlington Heights home early that morning and were on their way to work at the Rosemont Exposition Center when they heard first reports of the Arlington Park blaze on WBBM radio. The horseplayers didn’t think much of it, especially after Rosemont’s fire marshal, who had offices at the expo center, said it had been contained.

They later learned of the grandstand’s fate.

Carpenter, 20 at the time, went out to the track after getting home from work. He and others stood in disbelief near the smoke and charred wreckage.

“They didn’t have the entire parking lot blocked. I was by the top of the stretch rail,” Carpenter said. “I don’t think I shed a tear, but I know inside I was.”