A spectacular early morning fire Monday left the Morrison Brothers Oil Company main building just off the square a gutted ruin and caused an estimated $350,000 damage. Flames roared uncontrolled through the building and for a time seriously threatened to engulf the buildings immediately east of the Morrison Brothers building. After the alarm was given at about 5:30 am, firemen from eleven stations roared into Marion to aid the shorthanded Marion department to check the spread of the blaze. At the height of the blaze, the 50-foot high flames and smoke could be seen in Herrin. Clouds of smoke rose from the building which served partly as a storehouse for trucks and equipment.
Destroyed by the fire were eight tank trucks, many tires, several stored autos, Morrison Brothers company records and the auto accessory shop. Gale Morrison, a vice-president of the company, said the blaze started near the southwest side of the building. Most firemen and other eyewitnesses agreed with Morrison. Though Gale, F.E. Morrison company president or E.W. Gene Morrison, secretary-treasurer could give no definite estimate of the amount of damage the fire caused, conservative estimates set the loss of the building and contents at $300,000.
The Marion fire department was caught short handed since Chief Zoral Buckner took one truck to St. Louis for repairs at about 3:30 am Monday barely two hours before the blaze broke out. The rear of the Morrison Brothers building is about 30 yards from the Marion fire station. Representatives of eleven southern Illinois Fire Departments were on hand to fight the fire within a short time after it was discovered. They were from Harrisburg, West Frankfort, Johnston City, Benton, Murphysboro, Southern Acres, the Veteran’s Hospital, Carbondale, Mt. Vernon, Carterville and Herrin.
Two members of the Benton Fire Department headed by Assistant Chief Frank Bauer, Jr. followed a Mt. Vernon truck to the scene of the fire despite the fact they were not notified personally by radio. Chief worry of the firemen fighting the blaze was that it would spread to the office building directly to the east of the Morrison Brothers building.
The roof of that building caught and blazed briefly, but firemen extinguished it and poured water onto the doomed Morrison building from its roof. Severely damaged by water and smoke were the Williamson county relief office, the Marion I.O.O.F. hall and rooms in the second floor of the building at the east of the Morrison building. Had the fire spread out of control east, the entire block would have been in grave danger. Office records of the Superintendent of Schools, the State’s Attorney and the Highway Office were evacuated by workers and placed on the sidewalk.
Intense heat scorched the Illinois Commercial Telephone Company building across Union Street from the Morrison Brothers building. Heat seriously damaged he office switchboard and a cable was destroyed. Much of Marion was left without telephone service because of the phone damage. Plans were being made by manager Harry Sewell for emergency phone service. The Methodist church parsonage west of the Morrison building suffered roof damage. Heat blistered paint on the Fire Station walls.
The Morrison Brothers announced their home office would move into a temporary location on West Main Street in the old Bowman and Tanner building across the street from the Harry Lee Sinclair Station. The owners were hoping a vault on the west wall would be undamaged when workmen could clear the rubble away and investigate. The vault contains valuable papers, Gale Morrison said. One item destroyed in the fire hit particularly hard at E.W. “Gene” Morrison. He had stored in the building an unused motor boat.
The West Frankfort field kitchen of the Salvation Army was in operation at the scene of the blaze serving workers and firemen with coffee and refreshments. Workmen started the huge job of clearing the rubble shortly after the fire was brought under control. The first job was to prop up precarious slanting walls with telephone poles. The weakened walls were in a position to damage nearby buildings and telephone wires and cable if they fell outward. About 8:30 am a huge crane from the R.W. Ford Construction Company arrived on the scene to begin the job of smashing down the walls of the building.
The crane started on the northeast side and by noon had moved almost completely around the building. The Morrison Brothers Home Oil Company building is one of Marion’s oldest landmarks. It was erected in 1858 by Joab Goodall and served as a mule barn until 1922 when it was converted into a garage. The building was swept by a fire in 1910 leaving only the walls standing. That fire was fed by a large amount of hay left in the building. It is built on two floors and measures 100 feet by 180 feet.
The freight elevator was capable of hauling 6,000 pounds of material. The building has been rebuilt and remodeled many times in the almost 100-year existence. The Home Oil Company moved to the Goodall site in 1932 and has been there since that time. The company at first dealt only in the distribution of Sinclair gasoline, kerosene, distillates and fuel oil, but in 1927 installed a section for auto accessories.
County Board Chairman George Williams announced at noon Monday that the badly damaged Williamson County relief office would move to offices above the Sherman Department store, 200 Public Square. No plans were made public of the moving of other offices in the damaged building. The offices of Superintendent of schools, state’s attorney, highway department and laundry were all reoccupied by workers shortly after the fire was brought under control.
(Extracted from local newspapers and compiled by Harry Boyd, posted at http://www.marionfire.us )