EAST ALTON – Once again, the efforts of the East Alton and Wood River Fire Departments combined with mutual aid help from Alton, Rosewood Heights and Roxana contained a raging garage blaze on Tuesday night
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The fire occurred in the 500 block of Bowman Avenue in East Alton.
East Alton Fire Department Chief Rodney Palmer said it appears racing fuel may have ignited the fire in the garage. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Palmer also said when the departments arrived at the fire scene, the blaze was “ripping” through the garage.
“The firemen did a great job with the fire,” he said.
When East Alton arrived, Wood River’s Fire Department was already on the scene and East Alton pumped about 1,000 gallons of water into Wood River’s line before another water source was established, Palmer said.
Palmer said that East Alton and the other area fire departments are good at adapting when things don’t go in perfect fashion at scenes. He also mentioned the training of the different firemen pays off in these volatile situations.
“Racing fuel is a very volatile substance,” he said. “There was no chance of saving the garage because of that. We are glad we were able to contain the fire to the garage.”
Palmer said the garage, dumpster and shed fires are always dangerous because of the surprise element of what is inside them. With home fires, firemen normally know what is inside them, he added.
Palmer said he couldn’t say enough about the job that the mutual aid group did with the fire and any time these kinds of situations occur.
“We are all part of Mutual Aid Box Alarm System for this district,” he said. “Everyone in the district has run cards made up so we know who to call. The system overall, is great.”
