Meredith Ticer Picks Up Her Life After the Fire
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[<span style="">A fire relief fund has been set up at Region's Bank in Du Quoin for the Robert and Meredith Ticer family, who lost their 219 Mulberry Street home in an unforgiving fire this past week.</span>
<span style="">Meredith will spend this Mother's Day putting the family's life back together--with the help of Region's Bank, the First Baptist Church of Du Quoin and the American Legion. Several legion members from posts across Southern Illinois are expected to arrive in Du Quoin with household supplies and the family.</span>
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<span style="">Meredith talks about what happened during the fire. "Right around noon the alarm clock made a whirrring noise. At first I thought it was something electrical. The clock was fading in and out and then shut off. I went to where it was plugged in. The extension cord was running through the doorway. I saw the glow (of the fire) behind a chair. All of us got out before the fire spread. I went to our neighbors on the north, then across the street. Originally I left my daughter and dog at the neighbors. By the time I got back to the house the wall of the living room was in flames. That's when we called 911," she said. "Because it was such an old house--110 years old--there were a lot of nooks and crannies," she said. The couple bought the house from a bank. It had been vacant for eight years. "It was completely destroyed. The fire marshal couldn't even get in there," she said.</span>
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<span style="">All have decided that the "popping" in the house was not ammunition. It was a 24-can pack of Mountain Dew going off. </span>
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<span style="">The Ticers appreciate the ongoing help of all as they put their lives back together. </span>