Suspicious fire on Candy Cane Lane - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Suspicious fire on Candy Cane Lane

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WEST FRANKFORT, IL (KFVS) -

A suspicious fire on Candy Cane Lane nearly wiped out a Southern Illinois holiday tradition.

It was just past 10 p.m. Wednesday night when firefighters got the call about the fire at Tim Murphy's home.

Murphy is the man who founded Candy Cane Lane. And his holiday display draws thousands of people to West Frankfort every year to see what's new.

And it almost all went up in smoke.

"We were sitting watching the Cardinals game last night. It was an exciting game," said Marilyn Murphy. "And I was like who is knocking at the door this late. And when we looked outside and saw the flames higher then the roof on the main storage building, our hearts just stopped."

The fire ignited in a storage building next to the main storage building filled with hundreds of wood characters.

"I was standing there praying to God, please save Candy Cane Lane," said Murphy. "Because if it had got into the main storage building there would have been no way they could have put it out. It's full of wood stacked floor to ceiling with characters ranging from Sponge Bob Square Pants to Mickey Mouse."

Investigators are now calling the fire suspicious and are looking for anyone who may have information about who started the fire on Wednesday night.

"Our prayers were answered. And Candy Cane Lane will go on this year," said Murphy. "But we're going to have to make all new stakes for the characters because they were all destroyed by the fire."

Copyright 2012 KFVS. All rights reserved.

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