Alton firefighters battle storage facility fire, officials investigate cause

Feb. 06--ALTON -- A cause and origin team is investigating an early morning fire Tuesday in a concrete block storage facility that contained boxes of residential satellite television equipment.

"We know the origin, but we want to follow up on all leads and information to determine how the fire started," including viewing security camera images, said Chief Bernie Sebold of the Alton Fire Department.

A cause and origin team comprised of Sebold, AFD Battalion Chief Brad Sweetman and an Alton police officer returned to the property, 1467 Pearl St., in daylight to investigate the cause of the fire. The rental space in the short, cinder block strip building just northwest of the so-called, "Five Points" intersection has no utilities, Sebold said.

"Apparently they had been using a generator for lights," he said.

The chief said a contractor for DirecTV was leasing the space to hold the satellite television equipment.

"There was plenty of boxed TV equipment, satellite dishes and DirecTV boxes for television sets," Sebold said. "There was not a lot of fire damage to the contents, but there was smoke damage" because the boxes contained electronics.

He estimated total damage to the building and contents was about $15,000. "It is completely repairable," he said of the structure.

There were no injuries to firefighters or to the public.

Sebold said someone called 911 to report the fire just before 4 a.m., with police, then firefighters arriving at the property. The responders saw flames coming from the front door in the center, north side of the building and the roof, he said.

The chief struck a commercial mutual aid box alarm, summoning personnel and ladder trucks from East Alton and Wood River fire departments. East Alton firefighters assisted in helping Alton firefighters gain access to the south end of the building, which was separated from the north side by a wall, by cutting lock bolts.

Neither East Alton nor Wood River firefighters had to work on the fire suppression, he said.

"We were quickly able to extinguish the fire with one hose line," Sebold said. Firefighters then had to get on the roof and pull back roofing materials to reach and extinguish hot spots, making a 6- by 6-foot hole.

Firefighters were at the scene until 5:30 a.m., the chief said.

Sebold said the building is not insured, but he could not say if the contractor leasing the space has renter's insurance covering the electronics. According to Alton Township Assessor's Office records, Alma D. Rodriguez is the property owner.

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