A fire started in the 135-year-old Butler-Canon House before 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 8. The structure is expected to be declared a total loss because of the extensive damage caused by the blaze and the efforts to extinguish it.
PHOTOS BY STEVEN STIEFEL | FOR THE OBSERVER
BY MICHELLE KEY | PUBLISHER
OPELIKA — A morning fire on Wednesday, Jan. 8, claimed a home in downtown Opelika. The 135-year-old house — known as the Butler-Canon house — was the childhood home of former Opelika City Council Member David Canon’s grandmother Mary Butler Canon.
The Opelika Fire Department received the call to respond at 10:28 a.m. and arrived on scene just moments later. According to Opelika Fire Inspector Bob Parson, the fire was the result of an accident.
“A gas line was cut while a contractor was working in the basement level of the structure,” Parson said. “The resulting fire burned into a wall void and up into the roof space. Over the years there have been multiple roofs. The fire grew inside a roof void that firefighters were unable to access.”
The home is currently owned by Nelson Marsh and his wife Mary Kathrine. They shared the home with other young couples.
According to Marsh, everyone was able to escape the blaze safely.
“Thankfully we are all safe, but the house is completely gone,” Marsh said. A Go-Fund Me account has been set up for the couples by friends.
www.gofundme.com/f/rebuild-lives-aid-for-opelika-fire-victims.
