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EDWARDSVILLE —A fire that damaged a residence on Green Street and filled the neighborhood with smoke on Wednesday night is under investigation.
Crews were dispatched to 162 Green Street at approximately 4:50 p.m. for a report of a residential structure fire. Kingston Fire Chief Frank Guido said that initial reports also indicated that there was entrapment.
“We did three searches, we can’t find any victims as of this time,” he said.
Residents from throughout the neighborhood watched as crews doused the second floor of the residence with water. Firefighters were seen breaking windows of the second floor, which caused more smoke to billow out into the neighborhood.
Onlookers said they did not see much until they saw the smoke and fire apparatus rushing to the scene.
One of the onlookers was Edwardsville Borough Council President David Stochla.
Stochla was at his business, David Stochla Electric on Main Street, at the time of the fire. He came up to investigate when the fire apparatus first responded to the scene.
Stochla explained that he just recently purchased the house at 161 Green Street. That residence is only a few feet away from where crews were battling the blaze.
Stochla said he purchased the property to remodel it, and then either sell or rent the property. Stochla believed that the residence was affected by the smoke, but was worried about the fire spreading over to his building.
“I’m concerned,” he said. “If it jumps through the roof, I’m very concerned.’
Guido added that crews were able to put the fire out with their initial attack on the blaze. It was not immediately clear how many people were inside the residence at the time of the fire. Crews were seen talking to one woman, who had a child with her, and appeared to become belligerent when speaking at times.
Guido said the cause and origin of the fire is still under investigation by the Edwardsville Police Department. No injuries were reported, but a girl who appeared to be in her teens was seen being loaded into an ambulance and appeared to be on oxygen.
The Edwardsville Police Department could not be immediately reached for comment.