Firefighters battle extra-alarm blaze at warehouse on Chicago's South Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago firefighters battled an extra-alarm blaze Saturday evening in a warehouse in the Back of the Yards neighborhood.
The fire started shortly before 6:30 p.m. in a truck and trailer repair warehouse in the 4100 block of South Oakley Avenue. It was elevated to a 2-11 alarm fire around 6:45 p.m., and by 7:20 p.m., it had been elevated to a 3-11 alarm, which meant at least 12 fire engines, four fire trucks, two tower ladders, and approximately 125 firefighters were responding to the fire.
A Level 1 hazardous materials response also was initiated. According to unconfirmed fire dispatch reports, there were explosions inside the building after the fire started.
The business is called Quality Truck & Trailer, and neighbors said it is a long-running family-owned business. Neighbors said they called the owner to check on him after learning about the fire, and he was overcome with emotion.
Neighbors said they heard explosions from the warehouse before firefighters arrived.
"Right when I walked to my front door, I started seeing flames. After that, I started hearing explosions. So I called the police department. They directed me to the fire department, got them here, knocked on my mom's door, and after that explosion after explosion after explosion," said neighbor William Rodriguez. "It was shocking. It was scary. I was hoping nobody was inside. I was really praying for nobody was inside."
Firefighters said the roof of the warehouse had collapsed by the time they arrived. Crews struggled to get enough water pressure to effectively fight the fire at first.
"It really was the weather that we were battling, and the point that we didn't have enough water pressure for us to feed our master streams," Assistant Deputy Fire Commander Donald Walker said.
Chicago Water Department crews were called in to increase water pressure.
Peoples Gas shut off service to the building.
At the height of the fire, large plume of thick gray smoke was visible from the top of Willis Tower downtown, more than 6 miles away.
The 3-11 alarm was struck out by about 8:20 p.m., but crews were expected to remain on the scene for several hours to prevent the fire from starting up again.
No injuries were reported. The cause of the fire is under investigation. It was unclear how many vehicles at the warehouse were damaged in the fire.