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ALTON - An early morning blaze in the 3200 block of Edsall in Alton carried a similar theme as others like it recently - a vacant home and a fire that began early in the morning.
Alton Fire Chief Bernie Sebold said the suspicious fire is being investigated by his team and the state fire marshal’s office will also probe it by sometime Tuesday.
“It was a vacant home,” Sebold said. “I have spoken with the property owner and she confirms it was vacant for approximately 18 months. Unfortunately, there is not enough left of the structure to determine where the origin was or what caused the fire. The state fire marshal is coming tomorrow to take a look at it and our first investigator and Alton Police continue to investigate.”
Thankfully, there were no firefighter or citizen injuries from the dramatic fire.
“When we look at these types of fires that are so far advanced when we get there, we try to protect the other homes nearby and neither home on the side of this home was damaged," Sebold said.
This was the second fire of the week, as Alton firefighters battled another one last Wednesday in the early morning hours.
Sebold stressed a $1,000 reward is being offered by the fire department for anyone providing a tip that leads to the conviction to this or any of the apparent arsons in Alton.
Anyone with any information about this fire or the others, please contact (618) 463-3565 or Alton Police at (618) 463-3505.
Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
