Most of the Alton Fire Department were already tied up on a serious auto accident on Route 143 at the Cprl. Chris Belchik Memorial Expressway when the call came in. The crash occurred at 10:45 p.m. and several firefighters were committed to extricating an accident victim from their car and setting up a landing zone for an ARCH helicopter to land at that scene.

About six minutes later, at 10:51 p.m. the call came in for the Tycon building. Only one Alton pumper truck could respond and East Alton firefighters were called to assist.

For almost 10 minutes, only three firefighters were at the fire and they forced entry with a hose line and crawled through the thick smoke trying to locate the source of the fire. East Alton firefighters arrived and set up their aerial ladder truck but it was not needed.

Firefighters had difficulty locating the actual fire because of the dense smoke. Representatives from Tycon arrived and helped describe the layout of the building which contained several vehicles inside the rear of the structure.

The building suffered fire damage and extensive smoke damage. Alton Fire Chief Jesse Jemison could not say where the fire started Tuesday night as he watched firefighters make several entries into the building.

While firefighters were at the Tycon fire, a house fire broke out in the 3200 block of Oakwood Avenue in Alton, straining resources even farther. Godfrey firefighters were called to assist with that fire, which was initially believed to have started in the kitchen.

Both fires are under investigation and no injuries were reported.