Extra-alarm fire shuts down CTA Green Line trains on Chicago's West Side
Building destroyed in large fire on Chicago's West Side
A fire broke out at a large warehouse on the West Side, shutting down CTA service during the morning rush hour.
CHICAGO - Service on the CTA's Green Line was halted for several hours as crews battled an extra-alarm fire near the tracks on Chicago's West Side.
West Side fire
What we know:
Train service was shut down from roughly 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. between Conservatory and Harlem/Lake due to a two-alarm fire at 5045 W. Lake St., according to the CTA and the Chicago Fire Department.
The fire started around 4 a.m. at what appears to be a manufacturing facility in the Austin neighborhood .Roughly 125 CFD personnel responded to the scene.
Two men were working inside at the time of the fire. They told fire investigators they smelled smoke and saw it rising on the second floor. When they saw flames, they ran out, tearing their clothes while climbing a fence. The fire department positioned hoses on every side of the fire. They used a drone to get aerial views to detect hot spots.
Two nearby residents on Fulton Street was hospitalized due to smoke inhalation.
Stephen Cox arrived to work at Topiarius Landscaping across the street and saw the flames shooting 20 feet high from the windows. He said his workers and deliveries could not get through.
The blaze seemed to grow, even as firefighters aimed eight hoses of water at it from the ground, ladder trucks and the rooftop of a building next door. The greatest challenge was the CTA train tracks, perilously close.
"One of the biggest concerns of shutting down the CTA was the smoke. We all know Chicago is known as being a windy city. At the height of the fire we had a lot of smoke and we didn't want the smoke to shift and then you're talking about visibility and smoke possibly filling up our train cars," CFD District Chief Shun T. Haynes said.
The fire was struck out around 7:15 a.m. but companies remained in place to address lingering hot spots, according to Haynes.
What we don't know:
On Wednesday, fire officials determined the cause of the blaze was an "accidental ignition" from the use of tools during the removal of old machinery from the building's second floor.
The building previously housed a printing plant, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
The Source: The information in this report came from the CTA and the Chicago Fire Department.