BY JIM BEERS
The Chester Fire Department was paged out Thursday August 20 at 1:23 p.m. The location of the fire was at 760 Swanwick Street. The report notified the Chester Fire Department that the structure, a house, was on fire and that it was thought that the house was unoccupied.
At about 1:15 p.m. Chester Police Sgt. Joe Crain was on duty and noticed dark black smoke billowing in the area of 760 Swanwick Street. At the time that Sgt. Crain saw the smoke, he was near the Gilster Mary-Lee Plant in Chester.
Crain followed the smoke and ended up at 760 Swanwick Street where he saw flames shooting out of both the upstairs and first floor of the house. No one in the neighborhood had noticed the fire, therefore Sgt. Crain quickly notified the Chester Fire Department that there was a serious structure fire at the location.
Due to the fact that there were other homes in close proximity to the house on fire, the Steeleville and Ellis Grove Fire Departments were asked to provide mutual aid. The Chester Fire Department was first on scene and began fighting the fire. All three departments had the fire under control by approximately 1:45 p.m., but stayed on scene to douse hot spots and make sure the flames did not reappear.
Chester Fire Chief, Marty Bert, reported that the house was likely totaled, but stated that the State Fire Marshall would be asked to investigate the fire and make an official report as to the cause.
According to Bert, the owner had been at the house earlier in the day and had been doing some work. He apparently left the house to go uptown and get a cold soda when the fire apparently broke out. The owner returned to his house to find it on fire and with numerous firemen fighting the blaze.
Throughout the event, the owner sat on the side walk across from the burning house and watched in horror as it burned. He stated that he no longer lived in the house and that he currently lived in Anna-Jonesboro with his wife, who was fighting cancer.
He said that he came to the Chester house to retrieve a couple of air conditioners to give to his family. He noted at one point before he left to get a soda, he went to the basement to flip the breaker switch on, to test a couple of things. He did not notice any problems at the time he went to get his soda. When he arrived back at the house shortly thereafter, he was faced with the disaster.
Thankfully nobody was in the house at the time the fire was raging and nobody was injured. A couple of firemen appeared to get a bit over-heated late in the fire fight, but no major injuries were reported.
Fire Chief, Marty Bert said that more information would be available after the State Fire Marshal completed his investigation and prepared his report. Neighbors stated that the house had been empty for quite some time and that they had not recently seen anyone over at the house until the date of the fire.