MARION, Ill. - Two fire engines, an ambulance and numerous Marion police cars responded to 911 calls from nearby neighbors reporting a nearby empty house on fire around 11:30 pm Thursday night (November 19) in Marion.
Flames were already through the roof of the old house located northwest of Kroger and barely 250 feet east of the intersection of North Carbon Street and Morgan Avenue when firefighters arrived.
Crews wasted no time and quickly had the fire under control, containing it to the rear portion of the house, which sits on a small heavily-wooded half acre lot.
Huge fire hoses were conveniently connected to the new fire hydrants installed on Morgan Avenue as part of the recent street improvement project for the I -57 diverging diamond interchange.
The old house is owned by "Whitey" Name (yes, that's his last name), who currently lives in Florida, caring for his wife who has been suffering from cancer.
The 11,000 square foot GoldLine Photo warehouse building located just south of the fire appeared unharmed.
It is unknown what started the fire. Neighbors say the utilities were turned off, and believe one of the homeless people in that section of Marion may have started the fire trying to keep warm.
