By Nathaniel Hernandez
The Associated Press
CHICAGO — Fire engulfed a vacant building beside a busy downtown commuter train line, injuring two people and disrupting the Wednesday morning commute as officials worried the six-story building might collapse on to the tracks.
One firefighter and a civilian were hospitalized in good condition for minor injuries related to the blaze, Fire Department spokesman Will Knight.
Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, said a “collapse zone” was cordoned off around the brick building, on the south side of Chicago’s downtown Loop, for fear it could come crashing down.
Two nearby buildings used by Columbia College also were closed Wednesday because of the danger, said school spokeswoman Micki Leventhal.
The Tuesday fire and the danger of collapse shut down a section of elevated track that serves two Chicago Transit Authority rail lines and disrupted the commute Wednesday morning, including on the line that connects the Loop to Midway Airport.
Fire Department spokeswoman Eve Rodriguez said the fire appeared to have started in the building’s basement and spread to the roof. A hazardous materials team was called in because of concerns about flammable materials in a lower section of the building, which once housed the George Diamond Steakhouse.
The 1887 building was designed by the storied architectural firm of Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler and was designated a city landmark in 1996.