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State fire marshal investigates Cairo fire

By Heartland News

CAIRO, IL (KFVS) - In the light of day the state fire marshal and Cairo fire investigators look for clues as to what sparked a fire that destroyed three buildings over the weekend.

Two days have nearly passed since a blaze ripped through these buildings. But a small fire still burned in the old Speakeasy Restaurant. Meanwhile, the rubble of what's left of the Hong Kong Restaurant still smoldered, leaving the owners with nothing.

"They lost completely everything," said Marty Nicholson with Alexander County Emergency Management Agency.

Nicholson is helping the owners of Hong Kong Restaurant get back on their feet.

"Right now I'm trying to find them a place to live because they really don't have a place to stay," she said.

Nicholson says the couple lived above the restaurant and lost everything inside their home to the blaze as well. The owners of the once restaurant speak little English, but they do say they lost all their money and have no insurance for the building.

"It's just a shame this had to happen to them," Nicholson said.

Meanwhile, Cairo Fire Chief John Meyer says they're in the early stages of trying to figure what or who caused the fire.

"Our initial thought, it may have been suspicious, but later we learned there were utilities to this building," Meyer said. "We can't say it's suspicious at this time until we actually get to go in and dig around a little more and see what's going on."

But as for when firefighters can actually take a better look into the pile of rubble, Meyer says it could be a few days before it stops

smoldering.