Marion, ravaged by a $2.22 million 1963 fire loss, suffered a $150,000 fire Sunday, August 9, 1964, which destroyed five businesses and professional Sites.
The fire, which raged through false ceilings and a roof, resisted firemen’s efforts for five and a half hours.
It destroyed the J.V. Walker and Sons Clothing Store, Cline-Vick Drug Store, Household Finance Corp., and offices of Attorneys, J.C. Mitchell and Kenneth Hubler and Dr. Howard C. Dibble.
The P.N. Hirsch Store suffered water and smoke damage and some other adjacent businesses may have minor losses.
A passerby on the northeast corner of the Public Square saw smoke coming out of a rear window in the Walker store at 10:36 a.m. He ran to the police station in the city hall, separately by an alley from the store to give the alarm.
Police radio operator Joe Luther called firemen and help from other towns.
Firemen found flames 14 feet high from floor to ceiling in the rear of the store. The fire spread through the walls to false ceilings and the roof of the tow story building.
Breaks Out Anew
Firemen said they knocked out the main body of the fire at least three separate times. But it kept breaking out anew in various parts of the ceiling and roof. Several times the dense smoke was cleared away and it appeared that the fire was out, but then the smoke built up and again obscured the whole square.
Spectators lining the square saw no flames and ho heat was felt even by those standing near the store in the street.
Walls of the buildings were not buckled or damaged. Officials explained accumulation of heat during the hot spell and application of Water by firemen cause contraction of the bricks. In winter, the freezing water expands the bricks and buckles the walls.
Kenneth Sparks, The House of Fabrics operator, Odum Jewelry Store operators, Mrs. Laura Simpson, public accounting office operator, and helpers moved out contents from their businesses after 11 a.m.
Marion City Clerk Maureen Johnson and officials prepared city records for evacuation from the city hall but it never became necessary. The fire did not reach the building.
By 12:15 the fire had spread from the Walker store building owned by Mrs. Hosea Ferrell to the drug store building owned by Mrs. Harry Cline of Marion and Buck McNeil of Herrin.
Firemen switched their attack on the fire to the other building. At 12:50 the Walker corner was smokeless and firemen had moved to the roof of the Hirsch building owned by Miss Laura Belle Wader.
Fire Wall
Firemen credited a firewall between the drug store and the Hirsch building with helping to prevent the fire from spreading to the Hirsch Store. There is no firewall between the Ferrell and Cline buildings. A common stairway served the professional offices and finance company on the second floors of the two buildings.
At 12:55 heavy smoke broke out again on the Walker store building roof. Ten minutes later firemen said it was burning again where it first started.
At 2:10 firemen atop the roof yelled they were afraid it was getting away from them again. It was knocked out for the last time and by 4 P.M. the fire was officially over.
Firemen from Carbondale, Herrin Johnston City and Carterville assisted Marion. Three pumpers with six lines poured 25,000 gallons of water a minute on the fire.
The fact the fire happened on a quiet Sunday morning when many residents were in church helped firemen. Chief Lonnie Dungey said “we had all of the water we could use.” Officials broadcast appeals on radio and television to residents not to use water.
Earlier at 2:45 p.m. when weary firemen were finally gaining control over the fire, another blaze was reported. The Carterville department standing by at the Marion station, extinguished a grass fire at the home of Edith Turner, 1410 N. Van Buren St.
J.V. Walker and Sons reopened today in the Bank of Marion building at 306 Public Square. The Household Finance Corp. opened a temporary office at 1100 ½ Public Square.
The drug store was relocated today at 108 S. Market St.
Dungey, Commissioner William Harris, State Deputy Fire Marshal Al Phillips and insurance adjuster John Geittmann today began an inspection of the interior of the Walker building to try to determine the cause.
IN preliminary investigation this morning the start of the fire was said to be between brick walls between the Walker store and drug store, beneath the stairway leading to offices on the second floors of the buildings.
The buildings will be sealed off to permit further investigation. An investigator said the cause is believed to have been “an inherent defect in the building system worthy of further investigation.” There is no suspicion of arson.
Fuse boxes in both buildings were checked for a possible blown fuse. None was found, indicating the wiring was not defective.
The fire was the first big blaze of the year in Marion after the disastrous 1963 year in which Marion trailed only Chicago and Peoria, the largest Illinois cities in losses.
Five Marion Firemen Hurt in Sunday Blaze
Five Marion firemen were injured in fighting the Sunday blaze on the Public Square.
Woodrow W. Dungey, 49, of 701 S. Russell St., a volunteer and brother of Marion Fire Chief, Lonnie Dungey, suffered a badly cut left arm when a whipping water hose threw him through the plate glass window of the J.V. Walker and Sons Clothing Store.
The falling glass cut to the bone, severing his bicep muscle and tendons in the forearm. He is said to be in satisfactory condition today in Marion Memorial Hospital. Surgery was performed Sunday and his arm will be in a cast about eight weeks.
Fireman Robert Cash, 50, of 805 S. Court St., entered the hospital at 9 p.m. Sunday for treatment for smoke inhalation and exhaustion. He was placed under oxygen. He is in satisfactory condition today.
Volunteer James W. Johnson, 27, of 206 E. Charles St., was treated at the hospital for cuts on his left knee.
Fireman Bill Whiting suffered cuts on his hands. Fireman Paul Barnwell collapsed from smoke inhalation. Both were treated by Civil Defense members at the scene and returned to firefighting.
All other firemen suffered eye irritation from the smoke from burning tar roofing.
(Source: Southern Illinoisan, August 10, 1964, By Oliva Walley. Posted by Sam Lattuca, 8/24/2018)