Firefighters Extinguish 4-Alarm Blaze At South Side Warehouse
CHICAGO (STMW) -- About 170 firefighters were brought in to fight a four-alarm blaze at a South Side warehouse Thursday night.
The fire in the 11000 block of South Burley Avenue was struck out by 9:15 p.m., according to Fire Media Affairs.
The remote 1200-foot by 200-foot warehouse near the Calumet River is owned by South Shore Recycling Inc., according to records kept by the Illinois Secretary of State's office.
A level-one hazardous materials alert was issued due to concern that the warehouse held large amount of recyclables, including plastics and electronics materials, said fire department spokesman Larry Langford.
Firefighters had difficulty accessing fire hydrants near the secluded warehouse, Langford said. A surface hydrant system was set up to route hoses through several fire engines driven to midway points between the fire and fire hydrants to draw extra water.
Officials tried to dispatch a fire department boat to help crews pump water from the river after first responders had difficulty tapping into enough fire hydrants.
"We did request a fire boat but they had zero visibility," Commissioner Jose Santiago said at the scene. "We also tried to get the helicopter up there so we could see the magnitude of this area, but again we had zero visilbility."
One female firefighter suffered minor injuries when she tripped over a hose and was taken to Franciscan Saint Margaret Health Hospital in Hammond, Ind., Langford said.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
