‘Nothing Definitive’ Turned Up in Cadaver Dog Search At former Springfield Goodwill Fire Site

By Benjamin Cox on December 30, 2022 at 3:10pm

No human remains were found yesterday as fire officials combed the remains at the former Land of Lincoln Goodwill building in Springfield.

The site was the location of the largest fire in Springfield in over 40 years, and firefighters were worried there were remains of homeless people squatting in the building left inside after it burned to the ground.

The State Journal Register reports that four cadaver dogs from the McLean County Emergency Management Agency and the St. Clair Task Force spent shifts traversing the rubble and remaining buildings on Enos Street between 10th and 11th streets yesterday. Springfield Fire Chief Brandon Blough told the SJR that crews were on the scene of the fire yesterday for a little over 5 hours and turned up nothing definitive.

On Tuesday, fire officials told the Springfield media that they had located the last of the people that they believed to be in the building at the time of the fire.