Fire Destroy Idalou Business
By: Kristen Kennedy
Updated: February 12, 2009

The State Fire Marshal's office says the Lee's Manufacturing fire could have been an electrical fire, but they can't determine that for certain, so the cause will remain undetermined. The fire started a little before 1:30 Thursday morning at Lee's Manufacturing here on 1st Street. When owner Sonny Lee arrived, he saw smoke coming out of the back of the building and the fire had spread to the front. Firefighters told Lee there was no hope of saving the building or the supplies and equipment inside. Lee's Manufacturing has been in business for fifty years, and Lee took over the company from his father back in 1968. He's just thankful no one was hurt.
"I was thinking of the history of my dad more than anything I guess. And I was just thankful, it could've been where somebody was hurt or injured, and I was just thankful to the Lord that we wasn't dealing with anything like that," says Lee.
All 26 employees were still at work Thursday. Lee says this is a busy time for them, they've got a lot of equipment to ship out, so they'll be working from the three buildings that were not affected by the fire.


