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State fire marshal to investigate fire in Cairo

CAIRO, IL (KFVS) - Firefighters were called out to another house fire in Cairo early Tuesday morning.

A captain with the Cairo Fire Department says the fire started at 3:30 a.m. on the 2200 block of Dr Martin Luther King Ave. The vacant structure is considered a total loss and now is being considered suspicious, said fire crews.

The CFD says the state fire marshal has been called in to investigate.

By 5:30 a.m. crews had left the scene and no one was hurt in the blaze. Mike Coleman and his son, Chris had plans to renovate the home and rent it out. They tell Heartland News they worried something like this would happen.

"Somebody had to break in to do it," said Coleman. "It's pretty obvious the house someone set the fire," he said. "It was sealed. It was locked up and there was no electricity."

The three bedroom house was one of six properties owned by Coleman.

"We drove by it twice a day. But at 3:00 am I'm asleep," he said. "There was no way to prevent it."

Former City Councilman, Bobby Whitaker, lives just behind the home. He says he knows that it's hard to find a street in Cairo where a home has not burned.

"It made me feel a little jittery," said Whitaker. "That's something no one wants to wake up to."

Now Coleman isn't sure what he'll do with the lot. He says he did not have insurance.

"It's getting to be a joke here," said Coleman.