Extra-alarm fire damages cabinet manufacturer in Chicago suburb
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An extra-alarm fire caused significant damage Thursday morning at a custom cabinet manufacturer in southwest suburban New Lenox.
The fire started just before 10:30 a.m. at Tri-Star Cabinets, in the 1000 block of South Cedar Road in New Lenox.
The New Lenox Fire Protection District said firefighters saw heavy smoke and flames coming from the building when they arrived. The fire later was upgraded to a three-alarm fire, bringing in extra crews from the area and about 200 firemen in total.
All employees were evacuated safely, and no injuries were reported.
For 60 years, the family-owned business has provided custom cabinets. Fire officials said the wood at the facility was what fueled the fire. New Lenox Fire Chief Adam Riegel said there was a "lot of combustible material inside the building from just their normal operations, unfortunately."
Dave and Karen Wheeler have lived near the factory for decades. Dave was even a former employee, and they now run a daycare inside their home where they had to get the children to safety because of the fire.
"It is very scary," Karen said. "Very scary when you have children in your house. You know, you have to take care of them and first thing you do is call the parent and make arrangements."
The couple lives just a couple of blocks away from the factory. The smell of the burning wood permeated throughout the neighborhood.
"The smell was horrible, horrible," Karen said. "Where it upset my stomach. You couldn't see a thing. It's just devastating seeing all of this black smoke. You can't see nothing in front of you."
Fire officials said they were working with the Illinois EPA to monitor air quality in the area, which has remained safe as of Thursday afternoon.
The fire was still burning as of 1 p.m., and it appeared a large section of the facility had collapsed. Firefighters were expected to remain on the scene for an extended period of time Thursday afternoon.
