Three-alarm fire extinguished in North Lawndale

After almost three hours Tuesday morning, firefighters battling a three-alarm blaze in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side finally put it out.

Crews were still on scene as of 8:25 a.m., checking for hot spots in the building in the 4000 block of West Ogden, Fire Media Affairs said.

The fire was called in about 5:39 a.m. at the commercial building, which was unoccupied at the time of the blaze, officials said.

A man who wouldn’t give his name told the Chicago Sun-Times he runs a recording studio in the building, which is also occupied by a banquet hall, he said. The man said he didn’t know how the fire started. He said the owner of the building also operates a banquet hall there.

The man, who wouldn’t give his name, said he has no insurance to cover his losses.

“It’s a big loss,” he said. “There’s a lot of expensive equipment in there.”

The man said he’s been in business for about four years.

Firefighters went into defensive mode to contain the fire and keep it from spreading. No injuries have been reported.

Ogden remained closed between Pulaski and Kildare, police said.

Contributing: Stefano Esposito, Mitch Dudek.