Trencher catches fire

The Du Quoin Fire Department was called to the site of a new home under construction at 7000 Rt. 152 after a trencher/backhoe being used by workers with Fry Excavating Co. caught fire long after the unit was parked for the day. The equipment was being used by a contractor to trench in underground geo-thermal heating and cooling lines at the new home of Randy & Debbie DeMent which is now under construction. The machine was away from the home. As firemen tried to dowse the burning diesel fuel with water, the flames kept flaring. A motorist passing by on Kathleen Mine Road saw the fire and called Emergency 911.