The Hyatt House Fire

The Hyatt House, the most luxurious hotel building ever erected in the city of Janesville, was completed and opened for business May 7th, 1857. It occupied the former site of the old Stevens House Hotel, which burned in 1853, at the northeast corner of Milwaukee and Franklin Streets. The five story brick hotel was built by its name sake, A. Hyatt Smith, at the cost of $140,000. Everything about the structure was substantial and imposing with the dining hall being so large that between four and five hundred guests could be seated at one time. This hotel had become quite famous and had become a tremendous asset to the city of Janesville. Its destruction was a great loss. 
The fire was described as "a grand a sight as is often witnessed." The air was said to have been very still and the flames and smoke shot upward hundreds of feet in one vast sheet, bursting out of the windows and doors. It was most fortunate that there were no strong winds. As it was the freight depot caught fire twice during the blaze and all the buildings in the immediate vicinity were blistered by the fires intense heat. The fire was thought to have started in the kitchen after a fire had built in the cook stove and from there it spread at an alarming rate. Noted as the grandest building ever to grace Janesville's downtown, the Hyatt House was destroyed by fire on January 12th, 1867.

Major fires of the 1940's

One of the worst conflagrations in the history of Janesville swept through half a block of Janesville's business district along West Milwaukee Street on April 13th 1942 causing an estimated loss of $300,000. Completely wiped out by this fire was the Sutherland Block, which was built over the river on the south side of the street and the west end of the Milwaukee Street Bridge. The Sutherland Block, 9-11 West Milwaukee Street, housed the Trade Homes Shoe Store, The Dixie Shop, and the W.T. Grant Company. The blaze also incinerated the Kennedy Drug Company, 11-13 West Milwaukee, and the Tallman Building, 15-17 West Milwaukee Street, which included the F.W. Woolworth Company, sustained damage.

Creston Park Fire

On November 29th 1988 at the height of the Christmas shopping season the Creston Park Shopping Center was devastated by an inferno that destroyed six stores and force many others to close at what would have been their busiest time of year. The stores that were completely destroyed were the Sherwin-Williams Paint Store, The Young Folks Shop and Carriage House, Hamlin Jewelers, Big Ed's Sew 'N' Vac, and Lisa's Fashions. The fire also damaged the perimeter of the Alpine restaurant, and smoke damaged the entire shopping center. The fire apparently started in the office area of the Young Folks Shop rapidly spreading from there through the rear halls and into other stores. The powerful destructive force of the fire was seen first hand as a significant part of the Creston Park Shopping Center was rendered inoperable. That the fire took no immediate toll in human life was fortunate and remarkable as the blaze was discovered at 3:35 pm that day. Christmas shoppers and mall employees made their way out of the structure in the thick, choking smoke from the fast-moving fire. The swarm of firefighters waged a skilled attack on the fire to keep it from gutting the entire complex. This fire was considered the largest fire loss in the city's history. Fire officials declared that the fire loss could have been prevented if the structure had been protected by smoke detectors.    

Information from "History of the Janesville Fire Department: 1852-1988"
by Judy (Hladky) Sheridan