Extra-alarm fire guts West Side flea market building

As black-brown smoke poured out of the West Side flea market—one of the city’s largest fires in months—tears streamed down Araceli Velasquez’s cheeks.

“It’s too many years —working, working, working,” Velasquez, 44, told the Chicago Sun-Times as her brother tried to comfort her.

Despondent faces were everywhere Tuesday, as Velasquez and others who made a meager living selling everything from rosary beads to parakeets inside Buyer’s Flea Market, realized they’d probably lost everything in a massive fire that, at its height, brought 170 firefighters to the scene.

There were no reports of injuries in the blaze, although firefighters rescued a woman from a washroom in the building, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. The fire started about 9:45 a.m. in the south corner of the building at 4545 W. Division, firefighters said.

The fire was struck out about 5:25 p.m. and Fire Media said the building and said the building, “has suffered partial collapse” and “appears headed to a total loss.” It was expected to several days to determine the fire’s cause and origin.

The north wall and part of the west wall have collapsed, Fire Media said about 4 p.m.

It wasn’t clear what caused the blaze, which produced thick, pungent smoke—leaving a dirty smear across the sky that could be seen from miles away. Several cars were parked both in and on the roof of the market, Langford said.

“As the vehicles caught fire, the roof started to fail,” Langford said. “There were some cars parked on top of the deck, employee cars, and they started falling in.”

A man who said he works security at the market told several reporters that a man had been rescued from the roof of the building, but Langford couldn’t confirm that.

At the height of the fire, in addition to the large number of firefighters, the department had about 65 pieces of equipment on the scene, Langford said.

“We’ve got our best people on it. It’s just a matter of surround and drown,” Langford said about 1 p.m. Tuesday.

Langford described the collection of items inside as a “potpourri.”

The market, which drew thousands on weekends — leading some neighbors to complain about clogged streets — catered to a largely Hispanic crowd. Vendors sold everything from tacos to rosary beads to bracelets.

It’s billed as “Chicagoland’s largest indoor/outdoor flea market” and has been in business for more than 30 years, according to the market’s website.

Mamacita Harvey, 42, was among those who worked in the market, helping a friend with a pet stall that sold parakeets, rabbits, small snakes — even iguanas, she said.

“I’m very sad — they were good-selling animals,” Harvey said, watching the smoke drift skyward.