John Badman|The Telegraph A family escaped injury early Friday morning after their newer home went up in flames in the 1300 block of Taylor Avenue in Alton. Resident Francine Jackson watched the fire from across the street with friends from the neighborhood and her brother, Ronald Jackson, who was amazed at how quickly the fire spread through the modern construction house. When firefighters arrived about 5:40 a.m. flames were already burning through the roof of the structure. Alton called for mutual aid box alarm which brought East Alton firefighters to the scene to assist. The truck mounted deck gun on top of an Alton pumper truck was used to pour thousands of gallons of water on the exposed flames. The fire was too involved and the structural integrity of the house too compromised for firefighters to make entry but they did attack the fire from the rear of the home which had burned down to the studs. Fire crews remained on the scene as daylight broke waiting for an investigator from the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office. No injuries were reported. The house was a total loss and the cause of the fire is under investigation.

ALTON — A family escaped injury early Friday morning after their newer home went up in flames in the 1300 block of Taylor Avenue in Alton.

Resident Francine Jackson watched the fire from across the street with neighborhood friends and her brother, Ronald Jackson, who was amazed at how quickly the fire spread through the modern construction house.

When Alton firefighters arrived at about 5:40 a.m. flames were already burning through the roof of the structure. Alton called for mutual aid box alarm which brought East Alton firefighters to the scene to assist.

The truck mounted deck gun on top of an Alton pumper truck was used to pour thousands of gallons of water on the exposed flames. The fire was too involved and the structural integrity of the house was too compromised for firefighters to make entry, but they did attack the fire from the rear of the home which had burned down to the studs.

Fire crews remained on the scene as daylight broke Friday, waiting for an investigator from the Illinois State Fire Marshal's Office. No injuries were reported.

The house was a total loss; the cause of the fire is under investigation.

John Badman is a 1982 graduate of SIU-Carbondale, with a major in cinema and photography and a minor in law enforcement administration of justice. He has worked at The Telegraph in Alton full-time for 39 years and has been named the National Press Photographers Association's Region-5 Photographer of the Year six times.