RMG fire cleanup to begin in Mishawaka

June 03--MISHAWAKA -- Owners of the former RMG Foundry, consumed in a massive fire in February 2013, have agreed to start removing the wreckage on June 23 and have it cleaned up within 90 days.

The owners came to the agreement with the city's Code Enforcement Department in late May after the city ordered the cleanup.

Hulking scraps of iron and dozens of burned-out boats, cars and RV's have lingered since the fire because several people who owned those vehicles -- kept in the building for storage -- and their insurance companies are still wrangling over who's to blame and who should pay.

John Cocquyt, a key member of JLJ Group LLC, which owns the site at 500 S. Union St., said he won't have any trouble meeting the city's deadline.

He's lined up the contractors, and the job should take six to eight weeks in all, he said. They'll remove the two buildings that the fire damaged at the south end, or about 15 percent of an almost 580,000-square-foot industrial complex that JLJ owns, he said.

If JLJ Group cleans up most of the site by the deadline, the city might grant an extension, said Code Enforcement Director George Obren. And if JLJ doesn't show any effort, he said, the city could hold a hearing and possibly impose fines.

But Cocquyt said he's eager to see the wreckage go. And he still plans to remove the remaining parts of the complex some time within the next two years and then sell the lot.

JLJ's attorneys first asked the city if the cleanup could begin in July, so they could effectively let the property owners know that this will be their final chance to inspect the wreckage, said Thomas J. Walz, an attorney for JLJ.

But the city pushed for it to begin a month sooner to ensure that the eyesore would be gone, Obren said.

Last spring saw a rash of visits and investigations -- by city fire inspectors who couldn't find a cause for the fire and by several insurance inspectors. But Cocquyt said no one has asked to inspect the site since last June.

Asked if the property owners have been notified, Walz said that's in the hands of attorneys who are working with the property owners. "We are doing our best considering the city's mandate," he said.

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