Flood saves historical Elgin collection from fire

A year ago, a flood threatened the thousands of pieces of antiques and memorabilia in Steve Thoren's Elgin home.

But if it weren't for the flood, Thoren now says, a fire which broke out in the house late last month might have done far more damage to the record players, Victrolas, antique TVs and radios, 8,000 phonograph records, historic photos, magazines and kerosene lamps he has been collecting all his life.

As disaster-cleanup workers carried out charred debris and stepped around a hole burned into the floor of residence at 53 S. Union St., Thoren said most of his famous collection remains undamaged. But it still hurts to see his home ravaged by the fire.

A young woman and her 1-year-old son had been guests in the home when they were roused from an afternoon nap March 30 to find the first floor choked with smoke, Thoren said.

Elgin fire investigators later determined the blaze had started in the basement and spread upward into the first floor, causing an estimated $100,000 in damage. Thoren said he hasn't been able to inspect the basement because it remains sealed off by yellow tape while an investigation continues into the fire's cause.

The basement used to be crowded with antiques and memorabilia that had become virtually a live-in museum, often opened by Thoren to private tours.

Those tours came to an abrupt end in March 2015 when water started seeping into the basement. As the water got several inches deep, it threatened to ruin the records, antique appliances, photos and magazines stored on the basement floor.

A cry for help was posted on Facebook on a Sunday morning by one of Thoren's friends, Susan Hartig Lloyd. By noon that same day, a dozen people, including Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain, community event organizers Sigi Psimenos and Anthony Pedote, and future Elgin Community College Trustee Jeff Meyer, had rushed to the scene. They formed a bucket-brigade-style line, passing precious wet mementos up the basement stairs to safety.

Most of those objects were taken to the Wing Mansion in Elgin, dried off if necessary and stored in safe locations. The flood later was found to have come from a leaking water heater.

“Last year's flood turned out to be a blessing,” Thoren said. “Because of that we moved the stuff out faster than we would have otherwise, and relatively few things were left in the Union Street house when the fire broke out last week.

“Still, it's tough to see your lifelong family home in this condition,” Thoren added as he stared at a sheet of plywood that's replaced what had once had been the home's picture window.

Thoren grew up in the Union Street house, which had also been his grandparents' residence. He began living in and moving his collection into the Wing Mansion after he began dating its owner, Maureen McWaid. The couple married in September in a ceremony on the mansion's lawn officiated by retired Kane County Judge Keith Brown.

While most of his collection is safe, Thoren believes the fire destroyed several hundred vinyl records, some 78 rpm records, various VHS videotapes, many books and other miscellaneous antiques. His grandparents' 1951 Philco refrigerator and 1940s-era gas stove are smeared with soot but apparently survived.

Thoren, a former Elgin Township trustee who also hosts two programs on WRMN Radio, said a friend recently called the Union Street house “jinxed.”

“'It has had water. It has had fire. It had a burglary a few years ago. All it hasn't had is a death,'” Thoren said his friend told him. “I told him my grandfather and grandmother did die in the home. So he said, 'That's it. It's haunted.'”