Fire Out At SW Side Warehouse
CHICAGO (STMW) - An extra-alarm fire at a warehouse of a steel drum company in an industrial area in the Southwest Side Bridgeport neighborhood Saturday morning has been extinguished. No one was injured in the blaze.
The fire at 1428 W. 37th St. was reported at 8:11 a.m., according to Fire Media Affairs. That response was raised to a 2-11 alarm about 8:15 a.m. and a 3-11 alarm was called at 8:37 a.m., according to Fire Media.
A Level I Hazardous Materials response was also called, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Kevin MacGregor said, because there were barrels on the loading dock of the building and the contents of those barrels were not immediately known, MacGregor explained.
The building is at 37th Street and Jasper Place, which is about a block-and-a-half east of Ashland Avenue. It was later determined that the steel drums in and outside the building were empty and did not contain any hazardous materials, according to Fire Media.
The building, according to a sign on the front door, is home to Higgins Bros., Inc. The company is a steel drum and industrial container business. The building is a 4-story warehouse, according to Fire Media Affairs. MacGregor said the 150 by 150 foot building is "operational," not vacant or unused.
Firefighters battled the blaze with multiple streams, and worked to douse the flames "from every angle we can," MacGregor said. Firefighters conducted an exterior attack of the fire, he said. They later were able to search the building to make sure no one was inside.
No one was injured from the fire. The building did not sustain serious structural damage from the fire, according to Fire Media.
A 3-11 alarm sends 12 engines, four trucks, two tower ladders, five battalion chiefs, one deputy district chief, one district chief, a deputy fire commissioner, a command van and an ambulance to the scene.
© Sun-Times Media Wire Chicago Sun-Times 2011. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
