'Thankful Everyone Safe:' Alton Fire Chief Provides More Details About Early Morning Blaze On East Seventh Street

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ALTON - Alton Fire Chief Jesse Jemison provided additional information about an early morning fire Friday at a pair of duplexes in the 1201 and 1207 E. 7th St.

Jemison reported that thankfully, everyone in the duplexes were out when firefighters arrived. The fire call came out at 5:05 a.m., he said. He added that when the Alton Fire Department arrived at the scene, one of the duplexes was fully engulfed.

Jemison called a Box Alarm for the fire and East Alton Fire Department joined them on the scene. Alton Police Department also had personnel at the scene.

"A mom and three kids got out safely from one of the duplexes," he said. "The fire started on the adjacent side of one of the duplexes and it started going out of the windows and the fire caught the side of the other duplex. We did call the State Fire Marshal to investigate and one of our investigators. When I left the scene, there was talk they might bring a canine to the scene. The fire spread from one of the end units at 1201 and to the other one at 1207."

Jemison said situations like the early morning fire today are scary because often people are sleeping or just waking up.

The fire chief said he was absolutely proud of the firefighters for their efforts in tackling a very difficult fire.

"I would say we had it control in 20 to 30 minutes," he said of the morning blaze.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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