Answering The Call

Nobody can be sure exactly when the fire started, so it might have been building inside the middle of the Lanark Building Center for hours late Sunday afternoon before it got big enough to be noticed from the outside of the building. But at 7:30 Sunday night, January 9th, the 911 call was made.

"I got a call from a friend of mine from Mount Carroll who heard it on the scanner," said Building Center Manager Mark Macomber. "I got there just before the fire trucks arrived. When I got there, you could see arching and flames in the middle of the building."

Many people have seen the total destructio...