‘Total loss:’ Massive fire destroys pallet warehouse in Chicago’s West Town

BJ Lutz
·2 min read
3

CHICAGO — Nearly 300 firefighters responded Tuesday evening to a fire at a pallet warehouse in the West Town neighborhood that quickly grew to four alarms and a hazardous materials response.

The commercial building near West Hubbard Street and North Damen Avenue was deemed a total loss, Chief Jim McDonough of the Chicago Fire Department’s 1st District said after firefighters gained control of the blaze.

“These guys worked their butts off,” he said.

The fire at Commercial Pallets, Inc. began shortly before 6 p.m., nearly three hours after the family-owned company’s 18 employees had left for the day. It remained unclear late Tuesday as to how the roughly 20,000 pallets inside ignited, but their fuel and the day’s high heat and strong winds made for challenging conditions and prompted the need for the massive response.

“It was very warm out tonight so we had to switch guys up here, rotate them to get them checked out in our rehab area with refreshments,” McDonough said. “We take their blood pressure to make sure they’re all OK.”

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries but would fully recover, he said.

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McDonough said there was minor damage to adjacent buildings, adding that the hazardous materials response was called mostly because of the materials at a nearby company.

“They have propane. They do a lot of welding. There’s fuel in there. It was singeing on there. There’s some impingement on the building, but thank God we were able to stop it there,” he said.

The fire impacted service on Metra’s Union Pacific West, Milwaukee District West, Milwaukee District North and North Central Service trains. Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management & Communications said the fire damaged one of the train tracks. Service was restored late Tuesday.

WGN was told that the smoke from the fire could be seen from northwest suburban Schaumburg.

McDonough said firefighters would stay at the location through the night to take care of spots that continued to smolder.

Commercial Pallets, Inc. has been in business since 1978.

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