Extra-alarm fire rips through Illinois Medical District parking garage; dozens of cars destroyed

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An extra-alarm fire ripped through a parking garage in the Illinois Medical District on the city's Near West Side Tuesday afternoon.

The fire broke out in a truss-roof parking garage for the Garibaldi Square on the Park townhouse complex at 711 S. Ashland Ave., between Flournoy and Polk streets. One car caught fire, and the blaze spread to nearly 30 other cars. 

The roof of the garage collapsed onto the vehicles, potentially causing more cars to catch fire.

A 2-11 alarm was raised for extra equipment and manpower. Just under 100 fire personnel were brought in to battle the blaze.

The scene is steps from the campus of Rush University Medical Center. A Citizen app report indicated that staff could smell the smoke from a hospital building.

The University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center is also nearby. The St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church are located just to the south on Ashland Avenue.

The fire was also visible from the Eisenhower Expressway just to the north.

Neither the Garibaldi Park townhouses nor any other nearby buildings were damaged or threatened.

Fire Department video showed deep orange flames shooting out of the single-story brick building as plumes of smoke rose.

The alarm was struck out and the fire was under control by 4:37 p.m. As night fell, so many cars lay in burned out ruins.

Under the ashes in the light rain, a car horn from a burned-out vehicle blared in the night. Indeed, the losses were tremendous for residents of Garibaldi Square.

"My wife saw from the kitchen that there's some smoke," said Nadim Mahmud.

It soon became clear that every car in the garage was damaged.

Some residents of the Garibaldi Park complex told CBS 2's Jermont Terry about 40 cars are parked in the garage in any given day.  Since it was the middle of the day when the fire broke out, they estimated about 20 cars were likely in the garage at the time.  

As firefighters worked to get the fire under control, many people watched in horror as their vehicles burned.

"You don't expect to see your home, or anything that belongs to you, up in flames," said Garibaldi Square resident Piper Hawkins-Green.

Hawkins-Green was home when the fire started.

"I heard popping and loud voices," she said.

The noise she heard was tires and car engines exploding. By the time she stepped outside, fire crews were already on scene.

"Fortunately, all the units were spared," Hawkins-Green said.

The Fire Department controlled the fire – keeping it from spreading to any of the 42 townhouses surrounding the garage.

"I really appreciate the effort," said Jitin Srivastava, "because if they were not here on time, the fire would have reached our houses – and we would have probably either evacuated, or we would have been unsafe."

While it took just under 100 firefighters several hours to put out the flames, residents were not happy with their cars being reduced to charred husks.

"It's very sad for me," Srivastava said. "I lost my car."

But they're thankful no one was inside the garage when the roof collapsed – and more importantly, when the first car caught fire.

"It's devastating to see, but when you think about it just being a car and not lives, it's okay," Hawkins-Green added. "But it's very traumatic to see all this."

No injuries were reported, and everyone was thankful that no one was inside the garage when the first car caught fire, or when the roof collapsed.

Many car owners were on the phone with their insurance companies Tuesday night to begin clams after their cars were destroyed.

In:
• Rush University Medical Center
• Ashland Avenue