Tempo officials said they do not know whether the store will be reopened.
The fire occurred during a rainstorm which dumped about 7 inches of rain on Marion.
Firemen stopped the blaze, which occurred after an explosion heard blocks away, at a concrete block firewall separating Tempo from a line of nine other businesses occupying the shopping center
Smoke damaged Zwick’s Concept Two clothing store adjacent to the Tempo Store.
Firemen received a number of calls from nearby residents at 7:38 p.m.“They said Tempo had blown up.” Fireman Jack Wells said.
One-third of the 41,000 square foot building was on fire within 10 minutes, firemen said. A second large explosion occurred as the firemen arrived at the building.
“When we got there the roof was on fire and fire was shooting way up in the air,” Wells said.
Wells said, “It seems like it started in the automotive area. It blew down the back wall and blew the door to the garage plumb off the hinges, It didn’t even burn.”
Several smaller explosions occurred after the two major ones Wells said they were probably oil cans, boxes of shotgun shells and propane tanks for camping in the sports department and similar items.
Firemen from Herrin, Johnston City. Carterville, Cambria, West Frankfort, Christopher, Zeigler and Hurst assisted Marion.
Fireman John Lewis said six lines of hose were used by about 50 firemen, who concentrated on stopping the blaze at the firewall.
Lewis said, ‘We thought the whole thing (the shopping center) was gone.”
Firemen climbed on top of the roof of Zwick’s Concept Two, with others inside that store to watch in case the fire spread into it and threatened the firemen on the roof. No fireman was injured.
The store had been closed and emptied of employees and customers at 6 p.m.
Rex Ellsworth, regional softlines merchandise manager at the Gamble-Skogmo Inc. regional offices in Minneapolis, said the Marion store generally had an inventory of about $900,000.
He said that might not be the actual fire loss. Company representatives were on their way to Marion this morning. The Williamson County tax assessors’ office said the entire shopping center was valuated at $157,300, one-third of a sale price in 1973. The Tempo store occupied a major portion of the center, which is owned by Castel Properties.
The Tempo store was opened in 1965. A 17,000 square-foot addition was built in 1969 and the company completed a $100,000 remodeling project in 1974.
The store employed about 65 persons.
The fire occurred at the height of a rainstorm in which about 7 inches fell, flooding a large portion of the south side of Marion.
Firemen at the station had no difficulty getting to the scene but off-duty firemen who live in the south side did have troubles. Fireman William Whiting said he had to park his car and wade through waist-deep water.
Lewis said the city was lucky that no other area torn had a major fire during the storm so that other firemen could come to assist Marion.
Assistant State Fire Marshall Barney West and Marion firemen today were investigating the fire.
(Extracted from Southern Illinoisan article dated March 28, 1977, photos from Marion Daily Republican)