Firefighters in Alton fought two house fires simultaneously Wednesday evening, saving one of the houses.

Alton Fire Chief Dave Webb said that at about 3 p.m. firefighters went to a Tannery Road home for what was reported as a chair on fire on an outside deck. By the time they arrived four minutes later, Webb said, the house was engulfed in fire, with smoke coming out everywhere and 40-foot flames coming from the windows.

Three teams tried to fight the fire inside the house, but in 20 minutes found themselves with fire above and below them. The interior teams abandoned the house for their own safety.

Webb said Otis Armitage and his wife lived in the house with some tenants. People were at home when the fire was reported, but were evacuated safely.

While the Tannery Road fire was still burning, passers-by reported a house fire on Bennoch Road, near the LaGrange town line. Webb said fire crews made an “aggressive interior attack” and contained the fire in two rooms. The house was saved, though the roof was damaged. Residents Bruce Alexander and Pat Garnet were not home at the time of the fire, Webb said.

It took about an hour and a half to control the Bennoch Road fire, Webb said. Firefighters finally left the Tannery Road site at about 1 a.m. Thursday.