Firemen prevented a major fire in the Marion business district Monday night when they extinguished a blaze at the Niagara reducing and therapy salon at 306 N. Market St. The blaze which apparently started from a short circuit in an electrical wire was kept from spreading to Richey’s paint store which is located directly south of the salon, Fire Chief Herman May said.

May said that Wayne McClanahan, whose family lives in an apartment above the salon, noticed the smoke about 8:15 pm and reported the blaze. The Moody Cross family and the Earl Edwards family also live above the salon and paint store.

Authorities said that the occupants of the apartments threw various belongings out the front window after smelling the smoke. The blaze burned a hole in the tile covered floor of the salon quarters and burned two walls of a booth. The blaze also scorched the ceiling of the room and the north wall.

Firemen chopped through a rear wooden door to gain access to the fire after finding the door fastened with a metal bar. Allan Hutkins, manager of the salon, which opened in Marion last year, would not estimate the amount of the damage. The fire chief said the building is owned by Mrs. Ed Alexander.

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