Update, Saturday morning: Another video added that has an update and tells more about the building’s history. Scroll down.
ALTON, ILLINOIS, IS ONE OF THE OLDER PORT CITIES along the Mississippi River that was a key point during the haydays of riverboat traffic. One of the old neighborhoods that rose on one of the many hills was the home to many of the town’s wealthy as well as the Mansion House, a hotel built around 1834.
Last night (Thursday) at 7 pm Central a fire began that eventually led to the destruction of the city’s vintage landmark. The building was currently partitioned into four apartment units and while all of the residents escaped without injury, one of them “barely made it out.”
Telegraph photo
The Alton Telegraph reports from the fire scene:
“We’ve got all hands at this two-alarm fire,” Fire Chief Greg Bock said shortly before 9:30 p.m. “The building is going to be a total loss. The fire has come through the roof. We’re protecting exposures.
“We’ve been in a defensive mode for about an hour now,” he said. “Most of the active fire is knocked down, and we’re trying to get to the remaining fire now.”
Firefighters conducted a search of the three-story building and determined nobody else was inside. A short time later, about 7:40 p.m., the order was given to evacuate the building.
“All the guys on duty fought a very valiant fight trying to put this thing out,” Bock said. “They did a pretty extensive search and had everybody accounted for. They were fighting fire from the top to the bottom from the time we got here until we couldn’t do anything else.”
The Telegraph has the full story and some additional history of the building HERE.
KTVI-TV Ch. 2 St. Louis has this report from the scene:
Alton Fire Department WEBSITE.
Udate, Saturday:
This later video report from KTVI-TV updates the fire story and includes more about the building’s history:
Also on FireGeezer…
- Fire Takes Entire Apartment Bldg. in Missouri – November 11, 2009
- Fraudster’s Mansion Burns in Milwaukee – December 27, 2009
- School Fire Begins While Classes Are In Session – November 11, 2009
- Restaurant Block in Vancouver Burns Down – November 13, 2009
