July 07–EDWARDSVILLE — A firefighter was injured battling a blaze at a Main Street business early Saturday morning.

Capt. Ray Shinko of the Edwardsville Fire Department was knocked to the ground after touching an electrified chain-link fence while fighting the fire at LocalOffice, a computer service and sales company at 663 Main St., according to Fire Chief Ray King.

A section of the building’s metal-sided walls peeled away, carrying an electric current into the fence. The chief said the fire started apparently near an electrical service box at the rear of the business, which is housed on the first floor of the two-story building.

Shinko was not knocked unconscious by the shock but was hospitalized overnight for observation, King said.

According to King, the fire was first reported at 3:34 a.m. by Edwardsville Police

Officer John Fronzoni, who noticed it while driving by on patrol. Firefighters arriving on scene found the building “fully charged” with flames concentrated along the rear wall of the building, King said.

Approximately 50 firefighters from seven fire companies joined efforts in fighting the fire, alternating their efforts frequently due to high temperatures Saturday morning, King said. It took them about two hours to fully extinguish the fire.

In addition to the first-floor computer business, King said the building was home to two apartments.

Firefighters believe one apartment was vacant. The other was occupied but the residents were not home at the time of the fire. King said he believes the tenants, possibly a mother and daughter, were out of town Saturday and that Kris Leeds, the owner of the building and the computer business, is attempting to contact the tenants.

King said State Police Fire Marshal Ron Jarocha was called in to investigate the cause of the fire, which was undetermined Saturday. Firefighters do not believe the cause of the fire is suspicious, King said.

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