Blaze breaks out inside Loop building that has a painful fire history
CHICAGO - Someone lit fire to a pile of paper inside a Loop high-rise early Wednesday, forcing over a hundred people to evacuate but causing no injuries.
Firefighters quickly extinguished the small fire in a Citibank ATM vestibule on the ground floor of 69 W. Washington, according to Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
The building is also the location of the George W. Dunne Cook County administration offices.
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The fire was caused by person who entered the vestibule around 2:15 a.m., where someone else was sleeping, Langford said.
"Someone grabbed a bunch of deposit envelopes, paper supplies and lit them. That was pretty much it," Langford said.
There were people working in the building at the time, but a Citibank spokesperson said nobody was injured.
"Our branch was closed at the time and none of our colleagues were injured. The branch will remain closed today and we are referring customers to our nearby LaSalle and Madison branch at 11 S. LaSalle Street," a Citibank spokesperson said.
A woman with a medical condition was transported to a local hospital, but officials say her condition was not related to the fire.
A Chicago police spokesperson said no one was in custody.
The building has a painful fire history.
In 2003, six people died as they were trying to escape through a stairwell that filled with smoke, and the doors locked behind them.
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That tragedy led to changes in building codes and firefighting procedures. It is the reason that more resources are sent to emergencies in high-rise buildings.
The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.