Lt. Lawrence C. Breitrick, who assumed command of the Marion CCC camp with the transfer of Lt. Toft to the army school at Ft. Sheridan, saw the need for help during the fire Monday morning and rushed a truck load of men from the camp to the city which the blaze was at its high point. City Comm. Harry Crisp was especially appreciative of this volunteer aid and thanked not only Breitrick but C.P. Kelley, Acting Forest Supt. for their cooperating in sending some of the boys downtown in the afternoon to act as traffic officers during the Christmas Eve congestion. The boys did a fine job of handling the large number of cars in the rain without any accidents. Lt. R. J. Kiely has reported to the Marion camp as second in command.

(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at  http://www.marionfire.us/ )