Edwardsville Fire Department quickly extinguishes potentially dangerous fire

EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Fire Department is always quick to respond to scenes and that paid off Monday afternoon in what could have been a potentially devastating fire in the 6500 block of Fox Lake Drive.

The call to the Edwardsville Fire Department came in at 4:55 p.m. and was started apparently by a lightning strike with no one home.

“It could have been serious,” Edwardsville Fire Chief Rick Welle said. “When we arrived at the home we found some smoke in the house and when we got things opened up, it was still smoldering. We found some damage to a couple of the rafters and some actual plane damage.

"Overall, the damage was really limited to the area directly above one of the bathrooms. Had it been allowed to smolder, who knows what would have happened; that would have created a real problem.”

Welle said because it was an escalating fire, a full box alarm went out. Glen Carbon and Collinsville came over to Edwardsville to cover EMS and fire and Wood River and Holiday Shores Fire Departments were also contacted. Hamel Fire Department was turned back once things were under control.