South Loop Building Damaged By Fire
UPDATED 12/30/10 7:24 a.m.
CHICAGO (CBS) -- No one was hurt, but police say a fire that started in the South Loop is suspicious.
At 4:45 a.m., a still-and-box alarm was called for a fire at the 1325 S. Wabash Ave., Fire Media Affairs spokesman Quention Curtis.
No one answered the phone at 7 a.m. at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, located at that address.
The fire started on the first floor at the three-story brick building on the east side of Wabash, that sustained "significant damage,'' Curtis said.
The nearby Ole Hardwood restaurant, 1315 S. Wabash Ave., may have also been affected by the fire.
The fire was under control by 5:30 a.m. and no one was hurt, Curtis said.
A police Bomb & Arson Section sergeant said they are investigating because there was something suspicious about the blaze, but he did not immediately know if an accelerant was found.
The sergeant said no one was displaced by the fire, and a warming bus that was initially called was canceled.
Central District police Lt. Robert Lajewski said the interior of the building sustained "a lot of of damage.''
At 6:30 a.m. Wabash Avenue was reopened in both directions between Roosevelt and 14th Street, Lajewski said.
The Office of Fire Investigation was sent to the scene, Curtis said.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.
