The Associated Press
 AP Photo/M. Spencer Green Firefighters disperse after battling the five-alarm fire. |
LOCKPORT, Ill. — Dozens of firefighters battled a five-alarm blaze Tuesday that broke out before dawn at a suburban Chicago hotel. There were no reports of injuries.
Officials with the Lockport Township Fire Protection District said the blaze at the three-story Towpath Inn broke out just before 4 a.m. Tuesday and was brought under control a few hours later.
Authorities believe as many as 14 people were staying at the hotel and all but two were accounted for by midmorning, said Fire Chief Rob Cronholl.
“We’re not sure of the accuracy of the registry,” he added.
Firefighters from several surrounding communities spent hours pouring water onto the blaze as flames shot from the roof of the older brick building.
Authorities at the two large area hospitals — Silver Cross in Joliet and Palos Community in Palos Hills — said no victims were being treated at their facilities.
Metra commuter rail service was canceled into Chicago because of the fire, which was near Metra’s Lockport station.
Lockport is about 25 miles southwest of Chicago.
According to the city’s Web site, its downtown is part of a historic district surrounding the Illinois and Michigan Canal.
The canal was dug in the mid-19th century to link the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River.