2-Alarm Fire at Old Chicago Post Office Started in Trash Pile on 7th Floor

CHICAGO, IL — No one was hurt after a two-alarm fire broke out and spread to multiple floors of the Old Chicago Post Office on Tuesday morning, according to the Chicago Fire Department. Investigators believe the blaze started in a pile of trash on the building's seventh floor, Dane Placko of Fox 32 News reports.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen pouring out of the upper floors of the building at around 10:15 a.m., when firefighters responded to the blaze in the 400 block of West Harrison Street. By about 11 a.m., the smoke had subsided.

The heat and flames from the blaze caused windows to shatter, and the glass shards created backups on I-290. Congress Parkway and other streets around the building were closed by police because of the danger of falling glass, the Chicago Tribune reports.

At about 11:01 a.m., firefighters had made significant progress in extiguishing "the seat of the fire," and crews were being rotated out. The floors of the building also were being ventilated to clear out the smoke.

The fire was extinguished by around 11:35 a.m.

UPDATED (11:34 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 22)

photo via Chicago Fire Department

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