kitchen vent fire

Firefighters work grease fire at Alton McDonald's

ALTON - A Wednesday morning kitchen fire closed the McDonald's on Homer Adams Parkway, with a cause and origin team still trying to determine how it started.

"It is not considered to be suspicious," said Battalion Chief Brad Sweetman of the Alton Fire Department. "The fire was in the kitchen area and in the vent."

Sweetman said late Wednesday afternoon that the team still did not know exactly where in the kitchen the blaze started.

The flames did not spread, however, and firefighters did not discover any hot spots after putting out the blaze using extinguishers, he said. Firefighters also had laid down hoses, forcing the closure of adjacent Morningstar Drive.

A female employee suffered symptoms of asthma and was treated at the scene but did not require transportation to a hospital emergency room, he said.

Someone called 911 to report the fire at 7:30 a.m., sending coughing employees and customers outside during the evacuation from the restaurant, 2400 E. Homer Adams Parkway.

Smoke was rising from the roof and flames were burning the outside vent when firefighters arrived.

Late in the afternoon, a McDonald's employee said, "We have no clue yet," when asked when the restaurant might reopen. That decision will be based on inspections from the Madison County Health Department and Alton Building and Zoning, and its owners.

Nobody answered a telephone call to the restaurant just before 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Greg Vespa of the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office and Battalion Chief Rob Franke of AFD are investigating how and where the fire started in the building.

An Alton police officer also came to the scene as part of the investigation. He no longer is involved after Vespa and Franke determined the fire was not suspicious, Sweetman said