Firefighters Battle Blaze At Commercial Building In Evanston

EVANSTON, IL — Firefighters extinguished a heavy fire at a strip mall in west Evanston Thursday. Despite dangerous design components that meant its roof had a high chance of collapse, fire crews were able to save most of the building at Main Street and Dodge Avenue with no injuries to any residents or public safety personnel, according to the Evanston Fire Department.

The call of a fire coming from the roof of the building at 838 Dodge Ave. came in around 7:39 p.m. on June 20, according to Division Chief Paul Polep. Thick black smoke billowed from the roof and could be seen for more than a mile around the scene.

The first firefighters on scene arrived as the building was being evacuated. They found a heavy fire and smoke coming from the roof and determined the structure had a bowstring truss roof design, with large open void spaces allowing fires to spread quickly. Bowstring truss roofs are especially susceptible to collapse during fires.

"Typically these types of fires are a total loss," said Chief Brian Scott. "Given the advanced stage of fire upon arrival and the extremely dangerous building construction features that faced them, the firefighters did an outstanding job of quickly containing the fire to area of origin while saving a majority of the structure."

Fire crews began a defensive strategy to attack the blaze, bringing it under control within 60 minutes, according to Polep.

The Evanston Fire Department was aided by companies from neighboring communities with the fire and providing coverage for the rest of the city during the incident.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation. No estimated financial loss was immediately available.