Extra-Alarm Fire Ravages Lincoln Square Lanes

Photos provided by Chicago Fire Media. Fire at Lincoln Square Lanes, 4874 N. Lincoln Ave., August 31, 2015.

Flames filled the night destroying Chicago’s oldest operating bowling alley in an extra alarm fire in Lincoln Square early Monday morning.

Chicago firefighters responded to a call of a fire at Lincoln Square Lanes, 4874 N. Lincoln Ave., around 1 a.m., in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.

When the fire department arrived, flames were shooting through the roof of the second-story building where the bowling alley was housed. Several businesses occupied the ground level.

According to the Lincoln Square Lanes website, the business closed at midnight Sunday. The 311 fire started sometime after closing.

The fire was fully involved when firefighters arrived. The second story of the building collapsed as flames shot up several feet, according to witnesses on the scene.

Around 2 a.m. a Mayday call went out, signaling a firefighter in distress. Chicago Fire Media said in a tweet that a firefighter was looked at, but did not require transport to a hospital.

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford tweeted, “No injury in Mayday. Everyone accounted for.”

Lincoln Square Lanes opened in 1918 and was considered a neighborhood institution on the North Side. The eight-lane bowling alley underwent a major renovation in 2012, that included restoring the original ceiling, exposing the original brick walls, and removing the divide between the bar and bowling lanes, the business’s website said.

Four lanes were removed to accommodate a stage and a new kitchen was installed. Lincoln Square Lanes reopened in February 2013.

Around 2:10 a.m., Langford tweeted that the fire would soon be struck. Firefighters employed an 85-foot snorkel to fight back the flames.

Langford said there were no injuries. Crews were still on the scene as of 3:14 a.m.