Fire at the Arsenal

On Sunday February 18, 1934 black smoke rolled through the tunnels running beneath Illinois State Capitol. Workers struggled to breath as they raced to escape, not knowing that across the street the Illinois State Arsenal was going up in flames. 

Around noon earlier that day, a young boy was discovered smoking in the arsenal by custodian Elmer Bradley. Bradley attempted to evict the boy from the premise but the boy did not immediately leave. Instead, without Bradley knowing, the boy went to the first-floor men’s room where he tossed a lit match into a waste basket full of paper.  The boy left the room to inform guard Everett Secrest, who was in the auditorium, of the fire. When Secrest left to extinguish the fire, the boy found a paper bag to add weight to, set it on fire, then threw the bag at the stage. Without looking back the boy left the building.  

At 12:10, Secrest returned to the auditorium to find the stage’s drop curtain on fire. He summoned firefighters from across the street at station N. They worked to extinguish the flames but their efforts became futile when a blast shook the building, spreading the fire to the rest of the structure. Captain Howard Bentley, commander of Company C of the 130th Infantry was in his office with several guests when the fire started. He and the four soldiers with him were able to evacuate the women in their group before they went back into the building in an attempt to save company records. The spreading fire cut them off from their exit leaving them trapped on the third floor. They had to escape down an aerial ladder firefighters raised, carrying with them two field desks and a single briefcase.   

Firefighters fought to extinguish the flames as thousands of rounds of ammunition exploded throughout the day. The smoke, flames, and explosions attracted spectators despite the snow and plummeting temperatures. Water pooled in the streets creating frozen rivers that hampered the efforts of firefighters and the soldiers of Company C, who stood guard through the day and into the night to keep the spectators, who braved the cold, safe. By the time the fire died out there was an estimated $900,000 in damages to the building. 

An investigation, led by Fire Marshal Coultas and his team, was immediately launched to determine the cause of the fire. They heard a rumor of a boy wearing a short leather jacket and brown hat had been seen leaving the arsenal shortly before the fire was discovered. It was also reported that the same boy had been seen entering the building smoking a cigarette before the fire. Coultas and his team began working to identify the boy.    

They discovered a boy matching the description frequently loitered outside the Capitol Way Inn on Sundays. Cecil Kiper was apprehended and positively identified by Elmer Bradley as the boy he had expelled from the armory for smoking. The ten-year-old boy, who lived across the street from the arsenal, confessed to starting the fire in the men’s room but claimed it was put out before any damage could be done. Cecil’s mother, Mrs. Cal Nicholson, questioned him which is when he claimed that “one of the men gave me a quarter to say that I started the fire.” He produced the quarter in question and his mother confirmed that he did not have any money when he left home that morning. Over and over Cecil claimed he did not start the fire. His mother, angry at the treatment of her son, announced that she would be calling on Governor Horner to intercede on Cecil’s behalf. 

  A few days later, two deputy fire marshals Thomas Abrams and Russell Gunn collected Cecil from school and brought him to the governor’s office for further questioning. At first, Cecil evaded their questions before blurting that he “didn’t light the fire but knew who did.” When Coultas’s team and the governor took him to the burned remains of the arsenal Cecil finally admitted to setting the fire.  

Chicago criminologist Dr. Paul Schroeder was called in to talk with Cecil at length. Cecil admitted to the doctor that he enjoyed starting little fires and watching them burn as well as watching larger fires where walls and timbers fell into the blaze. Dr. Schroeder’s report stated that Cecil realized the effects of his actions and appeared ashamed. Cecil also requested that officials not tell his mother, that he did not want ‘people’ to know. 

Cecil was placed in a detention home while it was decided what to do with him.  Dr. Schroeder stated that the boy showed characteristics of a ‘fire bug’ and was a ‘menace to society’ though he does not believe Cecil should be placed in a criminal institution, like the state school for boys at St. Charles, but feels that the boy should go to a school or institution where he will have proper care and guidance. Dr. Schroeder also suggests Cecil be removed from his mother’s care.  By the end of March, the courts decided to send Cecil to live with his father and step mother Gilbert and Lena Kiper in Hayden, New Mexico where he would be able to grow up in better surroundings and away from undesirable influences. 

The arsenal fire destroyed approximately seventy three percent of the World War One records and spurred the construction of the Illinois State Archives. A fireproof, or mostly fireproof building, was built to contain historic state documents dating back to pre-statehood. A new building was constructed on the site of the destroyed arsenal. It served as an all-purpose venue for large indoor events and housed offices for the Illinois National Guard and State Police until 2008 when it was largely abandoned.