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Suspicious fire in Cairo destroys buildings, damages courthouse

By Heartland News

CAIRO, IL (KFVS) - Fire crews say the cause of a fire that destroyed three buildings and damaged the Alexander County Courthouse is suspicious.

The fire started before 1 a.m. Sunday and destroyed three two-storey buildings on Washington Street in downtown Cairo.

Police say it started in what was the old Speakeasy restaurant and the New Mark Twain restaurant and Antique shop.

The fire then spread into the attic of the Hong Kong restaurant and gutted it.

Those buildings are also located just across the street from the Alexander courthouse.

That's a big concern for Sheriff David Barkett.

The Sheriff says the wind whipped hot ash and cinders onto the courthouse roof. So the sheriff says, fire crews are not only battling the blaze but working to protect the county seat as well.

Firefighters sprayed the roof with water for several hours but we're told, but it did catch fire in a number of places and there is damage to the courthouse roof that will need repair.

Fire crews say smoke is also filling homes north of the fire.

Cindy Rice from Cairo said she woke up thinking her house was on fire because there was so much smoke but when she went outside, she saw that when she saw the fire several blocks away.

Fire crews now say the cause of the fire is suspicious. Several different departments from Southern Illinois and even Wickliff, Kentucky have responded to help with this fire.

The buildings, with the exception of the courthouse, appear to be a total loss.

No official word yet on what may have caused this fire.

UPDATE:

From the KFVS TV Channel 12...

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Suspicious fire in Cairo destroys buildings, damages courthouse

By Arnold Wyrick

CAIRO, IL (KFVS) - Fire investigators say the fire that destroyed three buildings in downtown Cairo Sunday was no accident.

It started on the backside of the historic Speakeasy restaurant and quickly spread to the adjoining buildings.

Cairo firefighters called for help from the surrounding fire departments to try and contain the flames.

Even with the firefighters and their tanker trucks working at full speed it still wasn't enough to save any of the buildings on the two thousand block of Washington Avenue.

"These fires are not only taking down old vacant buildings. they are messing with peoples lives. Now the Cairo fire department and the fire marshals need to do what they can do to get this taken care of," said Melissa Cain.

The chief of the Cairo fire department says his firefighters were battling the wind and flames and they didn't win.

"It played a factor in the fire it was kind of hard to contain and keep it from spreading," The Chief said.

"I'd say it was suspicious right now," He added

Two people above the Hong Kong restaurant barely escaped with their lives.

"There was two people that lived in an apartment, they did get out and they are okay."

After hours of battling the flames, the sunrise revealed the true extent of the damage and some flames still burned inside the debris.

A scene that was upsetting to nearby neighbors.

"It doesn't make no sense. it's wrong it's not somebody's house, it's somebody's business, it's their place of living. When they ran out of the building they ran out with nothing."

The fire also left nothing to salvage of the three buildings, except maybe some clues as to how it started.

Chief John Meyer also says the roof of the Alexander County courthouse was damaged by some of the hot debris scattered around the area by Sunday mornings winds.