Fire extinguisher factory on Chicago’s Southwest Side caught fire

More than 150 firefighters battled an extra-alarm blaze in a warehouse Thursday evening in the Archer Heights neighborhood on the Southwest Side. The fire was struck at 11:50 p.m., but a HazMat situation remained in effect, fire officials said. The cause of the blaze was under investigation.

At 9:36 p.m., the 100 feet by 100 feet industrial building at 3800 W. 38th St. was fully involved, according to Fire Media Affairs.

Within 30 minutes, the fire was upgraded to a 3-11 alarm and a hazardous materials situation, fire officials said.

The fully operational factory housed, among others, a company that manufactured fire extinguishers, First Deputy Fire Commissioner Charles Stewart told reporters at the scene. No one was injured and the fire did not spread to any other buildings.

“It was visible from the Stevenson before we got on the scene,” said Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford.

The Chicago Fire Department had six engines feeding each other to bring water from more than a half mile away, fire officials said.

“The problem back here is water. . . . We’re running inline operation, all these hoses are coming, engines are feeding engines going all the way back to Kedzie,” Langford said, adding that each engine “is good for about 500 feet.”