Law and Order: Unrelated fires damage restaurant, parsonage in Alton

Two unrelated fires early Tuesday morning seriously damaged a Golden Corral restaurant and a parsonage in Alton, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. An Alton police officer reported the fire at Golden Corral, on Homer Adams Parkway, 1:55 a.m., said Assistant Fire Chief Mike Harvey. When firefighters arrived, smoke was streaming from the roof vents. It took them about six hours to ensure that all of the fires in the roof and vents had been put out. About 90 minutes after being called to the Golden Corral, the department received a call to 507 Mitchell Street, a house that once served as a parsonage for the church next door. The front of the house was burning when crews arrived. Quick thinking — and 500 gallons of water sprayed onto the house and church in under 5 minutes — kept the fire from spreading to the church, located only 2 feet away.