Editor’s note: If anything good has come out of the rash of major business fires in 1963 apparently the current water improvements program is one example. The following story was published in the Volunteer Firefighter, March issue.
It was written and submitted to the “The only magazine edited exclusively for the volunteer fire service” by Ernest C. Heltsley of the Marion Daily Republican. Marion is gaining a reputation for big fires. The city’s business section has been hit with four major fires for a total of some $2 million with eight months.
The latest downtown business section fire last December 17 destroyed four businesses and two apartments. It started in the Kimmel Auto Parts building. Damage was estimated at $453,000. While a lack of water is considered a major factor in the May 6 fires, in which some seven businesses were destroyed.
It was less a factor, Fire Chief Lonnie Dungey says in the December fire. The May fire was the heaviest loss of the year at $1,250,000. “If anything, it (The December fire) was water, but had already gotten too much of a head start on us before we knew about it,” said the veteran firefighter about the December 17 blaze.
The fire started before 6 am. Dungey said the 1963 chain of fires was by far the worst he has seen. It’s getting now so that at the mention of Marion, a stranger is likely to ask, “What are you trying to do, burn the town over there?” Water was “good” during the Christmas fire, about one week after the Kimmel building fire in the downtown section. During Christmas Jake’s Tire & Recap on Illinois Route 37 burned in less than two hours.
The other major fire of the year was in April when the Marion Courts Motel burned. In summary, the two downtown fires were on May 16 and December 17; the outlying fires were on April 25 and December 25. The 17-degree temperature on December 17 froze water almost as soon as it struck the ground of the building, creating a hazard for firemen and on lookers.
Spectators were held to a minimum compared to the May 6 fire reported in the July issue of Volunteer Firefighter also by Heltsley, probably because of the cold weather and the fact that the fire was being fought at a time when most persons were either working or in school. Early in March a water facilities program improvement program initially prompted by the May 6 fire is scheduled to get underway.
The program includes construction of a 12 inch loop line around the Public Square, a new 500,000 gallon elevated steel water tank, a raw water line from the lake to the water plant and numerous extensions and installation of additional lines. Firemen, fire marshals and insurance adjusters, agree that no arson was involved; however one smaller house fire after the major fires resulted in committing a mother of two children to a mental institution after she admitted setting the fire. Police said she was not connected with any other fires.
In the Dec. 17 fire, the blaze started around the furnace sometime before 6 am. By the time General Telephone Co. officials discovered the fire had progressed from the basement up the stairs and into the second floor of the two-story building. General Telephone Co. maintained its division offices in most of the upstairs portion.
The Kimmel Auto Parts store used the downstairs of the building except for the Crouse Jewelry Store. All were destroyed. A fourth business in a second and adjoining building was damaged mainly by water and smoke. Two apartments above the business and Sorgen’s Studio and Camera Shop were destroyed when fire burned through the roof.
The blaze knocked out almost half a business block in less than one hour after firemen answered the initial call at about 5:50 am. Flames and smoke from the fire could be seen from as far as 10 miles. The fire-destroyed site was only a little more than one block from the site of the May 6 fire. Several businesses in adjoining buildings were threatened but firemen and departments from five towns, some as far away as Mt. Vernon 38 miles north, were able to contain the fire to the two buildings.
A Mt. Vernon snorkel truck credited with saving nearby buildings in the May 6 fire was standing by in the rear of the burning building on Dec. 17 but could not be used because of inadequate water supply. Firemen were certain that they would not have been able to stop the fire in the upstairs portion of the second building, except for the strong fire wall between the ABC Liquor Store and Sorgen’s Studio.
A new coal stoker supplying heat for the building had been installed in the Kimmel basement just a few months before the fire, in addition to some $2,000 in wiring work about two years previously. Heat generated from the blaze knocked out plate glass display windows of businesses across the street on both Market and Union Streets.
Fire departments and equipment at the scene were West Frankfort, one truck stood by at the station; Herrin, four firemen and one pumper truck; Carbondale, an 85-foot ladder truck and five men; Mt. Vernon with its 75-foot snorkel and three men, and three men from DuQuoin. Cost estimates of the four major fires during 1963 are: April 25, Marion Courts Motel, $50,000; May 6 seven businesses downtown, $1,250,000; Dec. 17 Kimmel Auto Parts, $453,000 and Dec. 25, Jakes Tire & Recap, $150,000.
Insurance adjusters say the rash of costly fires will not cause Marion residents an increase in rates this year but could in years to come. Marion, except for 1963, has not had many serious fires since 1957. By the time rate increases are considered, Marion will have completed a $1,113,000 water works improvement project to strengthen fire protection and the fire department’s equipment is expected to have been improved.
The project has been approved under the matching fund requirements of the Accelerated Public Works Program. Marion’s present system in an antiquated water system which has had no major repairs since it was built more than 40 years ago except for additions. The fires of 1963 probably are responsible more than any other single factor for the acceptance by the city leaders and the public need for vast water improvements in Marion.
(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at http://www.marionfire.us )