Fire and ice in December

Flames soared above the stores, as a three-alarm blaze destroyed several shops at Cricket West. Firefighters battled the fire in freezing weather, and Blade photographer Lee Merkle was at the scene, on Dec. 5, 1970. He took this photograph as firefighters pumped water into the burned-out roof on the southwest side of the building, above Haney Interiors and other shops along Markway Road, near Secor Road and West Central Avenue.