Electrical panel failure fills high-rise basement with smoke

One person was hospitalized for smoke inhalation after an electrical panel malfunctioned in a Near West Side high-rise Saturday afternoon.

An electrical panel failed in the basement of a building in the 500 block of West Monroe, Fire Media Affairs said about 1:20 p.m.

Heavy smoke filled the basement, and while the building was not evacuated, one person was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, fire officials said.

Crews were working to ventilate the building, and smoke was “minimal” as of 1:30 p.m., according to Fire Media Affairs.

A failed electrical panel filled a high-rise building’s basement with smoke Saturday afternoon on the Near West Side. | Fire Media Affairs