Kitchen Fire Burns Subway On Oakton, Skokie Fire Crews Save Sawa

SKOKIE, IL — Fire crews extinguished a fire at the Subway restaurant at 5041 Oakton St. in downtown Skokie Tuesday. The Skokie Fire Department was called to the area around 10:48 a.m. for a report of a structure fire, according to Chief Jason Brandt. On scene, firefighters found smoke pouring out of the the restaurant and upgraded the alarm to call in neighboring departments.

"We had heavy smoke coming from the front and flames coming from the rear," Brandt said.

There were no reports of any injuries, and the fire remains under investigation.

"It did start in the kitchen area," Brandt said. "About 50 percent of the structure was heavily damaged by fire, smoke and water."

Everyone was out of the building by the time fire trucks arrived, and authorities redirected traffic through the area between about noon and 1:30 p.m.

Firefighters managed to limit the blaze to the Subway, one of several business on the block.

The Ace Hardware on the corner was undamaged, but the Pakistani clothing boutique adjacent to the sandwich shop, Sawa, suffered some smoke damage.

Brandt said firefighters had to open up the ceiling and the wall between the business to stop the fire from spreading.