Firefighters' quick knock-down saves most of Division St. apartment complex

It was only three minutes from the time the Emergency 911 call came in that a 749 N Division St. apartment complex was on fire until the time Du Quoin firefighters began pulling down fire hoses at the scene.

That response time and training probably saved the 10-apartment complex from incurring catastrophic damage beyond the two apartments that were affected.

Du Quoin firefighters got the call from the county's central dispatch center in the sheriff's department at 8:29 p.m.

The fire broke out in the downstairs of apartment No. 4 on the near east end of the building.

The apartments are owned by Shane Emling and it was in tenant Marcus Turner's apartment where the fire broke out. He stood across from the fire scene as firemen from Du Quoin, Dowell, Tamaroa and Benton went about their work.

It was a close call for tenant Garrin Otto, who lived in apartment No. 3 to the east.

"I was asleep in the bedroom," he said as we walked to the upstairs of his apartment where the fire broke through. He had no smoke alarm, but said he was gagging from the smoke and it woke him up. His losses from the smoke and water damage--sheet rock wallboard debris all around--are not insured.

Thursday morning he was working to remove anything of any value from his apartment.

Firemen fought the blaze in Turner's apartment, but took down part of the common wall upstairs between the two apartments to make sure the fire was out.

After the interior fire--which may have started around a furnace in the Turner apartment--firefighters swung the ladder from the city's aerial truck back and forth along the roof line to make sure the fire had not crossed through the roof trusses.

As the night wore on, water in the parking area turned to ice and firefighters were careful to sidestep the sheets of ice that were forming.

The Turner apartment sustained major fire, heat, water and smoke damage. The Otto apartment sustained moderate damage. Most of the evacuated tenants moved back in with the help of the American Red Cross as soon as firemen and Ameren said it was safe to do so.

Emergency Services director David Searby: "Just as an update from last night's fire...I have been in communication this morning with American Red Cross and they did provide services last night to the victims of the fire and they will be back up here this morning to do follow-up with them to see if there is anything else they need."

Searby and Mayor Rex Duncan opened city hall as a warming center for any tenants who needed short term shelter. Most, however, either went to relative's and friend's homes, then returned later.

Firemen were back in the Du Quoin station at 11 p.m.