Cahokia furniture store destroyed by fire. Owner vows it will return.
Art Worth choked on his emotions after the business he’s owned and operated in Cahokia for 30 years was destroyed by fire.
But he vowed that Rep Furniture will return.
Firefighters were dispatched to the store at 4015 Mississippi St. at 8:20 p.m. Wednesday. When they arrived, they found the building’s interior was fully engulfed in fire and flames were shooting through the roof.
Cahokia Fire Chief Steve Robbins said he wasn’t sure what started the structure fire that firefighters worked on four hours to extinguish.
“When we got there, heavy smoke was coming out of the building,” Robbins said. “Once we got inside, we found the building was fully involved and fire was going through the roof.
There were no injuries, Robbins said.
Camp Jackson, Prairie Dupont, DuPont and Columbia assisted the Cahokia Fire Department.
An investigation to determine the cause and origin of the blaze has been handed off to the Illinois State Fire Marshal’s office, Robbins said.
This story was originally published June 11, 2020 at 11:34 AM.
