4 businesses destroyed in extra-alarm blaze in
South Loop in Chicago. 2 firefighters suffer ice-related injuries battling
South Loop blaze.
Tusain Collins stood outside the South Loop restaurant
where he works, watching firefighters put out an extra-alarm fire that tore
through his restaurant and three other businesses.
"It's really a big disappointment this is happening
at a time like this," he said.
Collins said his stepmother, the cook for the Jamaican
Jerk Villa, was inside prepping for New Year's catering orders when the fire
started. He said his stepmother was not hurt but appeared in shock while she
sat in an ambulance.
"I'm happy that she's OK," he said.
"We're grateful for that."
The fire started around 2:50 a.m. in a building housing
two other restaurants and a cellphone store on the northeast corner of State
Street and Cermak Road, fire officials said.
The roof collapsed in places as flames spread through a
small gap above the ceiling of the one-story building, officials said.
"The fire gets in that area and spreads across the
entire building," Fire Chief William Vogt said at the scene. "Usually
we can go ahead and attack the fire from underneath with our firefighters, but
because of the size of the building and because the fire was coming through the
roof when we got here, it was too dangerous to let the firefighters enter the
structure."
Heavy smoke drifted across the Green Line elevated
tracks and temporarily suspended service between the 35th Street and Roosevelt
stations. CTA buses were also being rerouted around the fire scene. Service
resumed shortly after 8 a.m. as the fire was brought under control, officials
said.
Preventing the fire from damaging the tracks was a major
concern for firefighters, Vogt said. Firefighters also had to work around a
billboard that was supported by the building's roof and worked to keep it from
collapsing.
Initial reports said the blaze started as a grease fire,
but Vogt said the cause is "still under investigation."
"I don't want to give you any comments on
that," Vogt said at the scene.
In addition to the Jamaican restaurant, the building
housed the Dragon Fire and Shark's Fish and Chicken restaurants and the Mobile
Central phone store.
A firefighter twisted his ankle after slipping on ice,
and was taken to Mercy Hospital and Medical Center in good condition. A second
firefighter injured his back when he also slipped on ice and was taken to
Northwestern Memorial Hospital in good condition, according to Fire Chief Joe Roccasalva.
Latisha Huff, 24, stood on the street watching the fire.
Huff, who lives just around the corner from Cermak and State, said she woke to
the smell of smoke.
"And I heard the ambulances and the firetrucks, and
my whole window was covered in black," Huff said.
Johnetta Battle, Huff's neighbor, said she left her
building as soon as Huff called and told her there was a fire. Battle, 59, said
she couldn't tell where the blaze was coming from with all the smoke.
"I thought it was our building," Battle said.
Tusain Collins said business at the restaurants had been
slow due to construction in the area. He called the fire a
"disaster."
"There's a lot of people going to be out of a
job," he said.
