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Busy Year For Fires In Galesburg
The City of Galesburg saw some major fires in 2012, and that's one of our top local stories of the year.

The blazes affected every part of town, from the fire at the former Wonder Bread facility on Grand Avenue in August, to the former Hawkinson Manufacturing fire near downtown, to at least one instance where two fires started within hours of each other in one night.

One of the bigger blazes destroyed a lumber area at People's Do-It Center in April. Fire Investigator Brock Schmidt told the WGIL Morning News in May given the situation at the facility, fire might have been inevitable.

"We met and interviewed everyone that worked there and did a thorough examination of the scene," says Brock. "To us it's looking like the fire started in the Southeast corner of that building which would've been where the saw was located where they did most of their woodcutting."

Tar and other items were in the facility as well, which is why Schmidt couldn't point to one specific heat source.

Owners at People's Do-It Center built a new lumber yard to replace the one there. No one was hurt.
12 31 12 by Newsroom
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