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ALTON - The Imo's Pizza location at 2704 Godfrey Road and multiple businesses around it were closed late Friday morning during a time they would normally all be preparing for a busy day. The Imo's location is right at the border between Alton and Godfrey.
Imo's suffered significant damage, Alton Fire Chief Jesse Jemison said. Jemison also said the China Wok, Great Clips, Subway and Dollar General also encountered moderate smoke damage and were cleaning up and waiting on an inspection from the health department before reopening.
"Imo's is probably a complete loss because of the fire, the chief said. "When we arrived there was heavy smoke showing from Imo's. The call came through at 3:18 a.m."
Friday morning, the smell of smoke was still strong in the air at the scene of these businesses. The Subway manager said she didn't know when their operation would reopen, but definitely not before lunch. There was still cleaning going on from the smoke at the Subway and she said they were waiting on a health department visit.
A Dollar General customer - Dawn - was sad when she couldn't purchase her normally items at the store because of the fire.
The customer said she also worried about the Imo's employees who will be temporarily out of work.
"Hopefully, Dollar General and the others will be able to clean up and open soon," she said. "I understand why Dollar General is not open today."
Fire Chief Jemison praised his firefighters and the assistance from Godfrey Fire Protection District and East Alton. He said the firefighters did a great job and their quick and exceptional response saved the neighboring businesses from a potential disaster of multiple buildings on fire.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
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