Flames rip through the building at 106 E. Second St. in downtown Pana Sunday afternoon in this picture from the Pana Fire Department. Tony Reid
PANA â Firefighters dealt with a massive blaze in downtown Pana Sunday, the second time in less than six months theyâve had to fight a major conflagration in old and empty former business buildings.
Pana Fire Chief Rod Bland said there had been someone living in an apartment above the fire location at 106 E. Second St. but, happily, this person wasnât home when the fire broke out.
Bland said he arrived on scene at 1:14 p.m. to find flames roaring out of the upstairs windows of the building that once housed a photography business. It took several hours to put the flames out and deal with the aftermath.
The fire was contained to the five-room apartment in the 100 block of East Second Street.
Two renters made it out safely, said Pana Fire Chief Rod Bland.
There were firewalls on both sides of the apartment, preventing the fire from spreading, Bland said. An apartment to the west was occupied, Bland confirmed, and that person evacuated as a precaution.
The downstairs part of the building formerly housed the photography studios of Gene Reed and Holly Stark, Bland said. There was some equipment in the business part, which sustained water damage, he said.
Bland confirmed that Stark, who works at Pana Community Hospital, is the building s owner.
Staff Report
A suspect was apprehended and taken into custody in Taylorville after a teen was shot in an altercation in rural Pana Sunday morning.
The 17-year-old was listed in serious condition after being driven to an area hospital with a shotgun wound.
Jacob R. Mariacher, 21, of Niles, Ill., was taken into custody at the Taco Bell in the 600 block of North Webster in Taylorville by Illinois State Police, Taylorville police and Christian County sheriff’s officers.
Niles is a village in Cook County that neighbors Chicago s far northwest border.
Mariacher was charged with aggravated battery/discharge of a firearm, discharge of a firearm and possession/use of a weapon by a felon.