A fire at a storage facility Sunday damaged at least 20 units in Garfield Ridge on the Southwest Side.
Fire crews were first called at 7:53 a.m. to the storage facility in the 6200 block of South Harlem Avenue, the Chicago Fire Department said. What began as a fire in about five units on the north side of the building quickly spread to both indoor and outdoor units and a second alarm was raised 15 minutes later.
About an hour after the initial call, the situation was upgraded to a Level 1 HazMat scene, the fire department said. The HazMat upgrade was just a precautionary measure, and an evaluation of the wreckage confirmed that there were no hazardous materials in danger of burning.
“We don’t know what’s all stored in there, people could have gasoline or propane or other chemicals,” Deputy District Chief Curtis Hudson said. “So it was just a precautionary measure.”
No one was injured in the blaze, but at least 20 storage units were damaged by the fire and several more may have suffered smoke damage, Hudson said.
The HazMat situation was struck out about 10:30 a.m., the fire department said. Fire crews are still chasing hot spots.
