Two former Naperville residents perish in Galena-area fire
Just beyond a 20-foot birch tree growing splendidly in an immaculate front yard sits the burned shell of a two-story house.
In the rural setting of northwestern Illinois, the house looks like one of the many ancient barns that dot the landscape, a skeleton with only a portion of a roof remaining. Except in this case, there is yellow plastic police tape circling the yard and the story of its demise is more recent.
On Sunday, a call went out at 4:16 p.m. that a house at 1 Glen Eagle Court in the Galena Territory, east of Galena, was on fire. Officials have since confirmed the owners of the home, James A. and Margaret A. Marnowski, died in the blaze.
The former Naperville residents, both of whom were longtime employees at Nalco Chemical Company, retired and moved to Galena from Naperville in 2003. Marge was also a volunteer at Naperville's Edward Hospital.
The cause of death is not yet known. Jo Daviess County Sheriff's Department officials said they are awaiting toxicology and DNA results, but other evidence led to the identification of the victims.
Days later, the acrid stench of fire and destruction continues to waft over the hilly neighborhood, an unwelcome reminder arriving on a breeze from a ridge to the south.
"At this point, we have no reason to believe that arson was involved; however, the case is still under investigation," said Louis Pukelis, of the Illinois State Fire Marshal Office.
"It was surreal and I'm still sort of in a state of shock," said Maureen Fletcher, a neighbor whose house sits 100 yards from the home where the Marnowskis died.
Fletcher arrived home Sunday about a half-hour after the fire call and said every fire department from the area was already at the scene.
"They got here pretty quickly," she said. "The neighbors got together after the fire Sunday night. We talked about things like whether or not we should share house keys or how we can best keep track of each others'."
Kurt Ullrich is a staff writer at the Telegraph Herald.