United States (Illinois) - A large fire Monday afternoon destroyed a restaurant in Cahokia. The Illinois State Fire Marshal's office will continue its investigation today into the cause of a fire that burned Stinger's Restaurant and Pizzeria. There were no indications that the fire's origin was suspicious; it's common for the fire marshal's office to investigate the cause of large structure fires.

"The building is a total loss. The roof completely burned off. There is nothing inside that is salvageable," said Cris Burch, a spokesman for the Cahokia Volunteer Fire Department.

Firefighters responded about 2:30 p.m. Monday to the fire at 3701 Mississippi Ave., which is Illinois 3 in Cahokia. The fire was under control by about 4 p.m.

No one was injured in the incident.

"The business was closed (Monday). The owners were doing some general cleanup earlier (Monday), but when the fire started, they were not on the scene," Burch said.

Fire crews from Cahokia, Sauget, Dupo, Camp Jackson, Millstadt and Prairie DuPont, Columbia, Villa Hills, Millstadt, State Park Place, Madison and Northwest were all dispatched to the blaze.

Illinois 3 from Illinois 157 to Jerome Lane was closed to motorists during the fire.

Written by Belleville News-Democrat