Firemen Save House In Okawville House Sunday

By  Debby Stricker

Fire was already burning the siding on the Chris Grissom residence at 519 S. Front Street in Okawville when the first firemen arrived Sunday morning.

The fire that had started in the garage had spread east across the yard to the house.

Chief James Rossel’s initial assessment was that the house would be lost, so the goal was to save the neighbor’s house to the north, he said.

Rossel attributes no wind at 7:17 a.m. to firemen getting the fire under control and saving the Grissom house. The heat was so intense that it melted the siding on the garages of the former Tillie Hackstadt residence to the north. A road was a buffer between Grissom’s house and the neighbor’s residence to the south. 

Read more in this week’s issue.