Warehouse Fire On Chicago’s West Side Shuts Down Green Line, Closes Roads

Two workers safely escaped a 2-alarm fire at a warehouse in Chicago early Wednesday, fire officials said.

The Chicago Fire Department responded to the blaze at a warehouse on the 5000 block of West Lake Street in Austin, on the city’s West Side, shortly before 5 a.m. Wednesday. Photos shared by the fire department show a building engulfed in flames right next to an elevated train line.

Fire officials said two workers made it out of the building an are “OK.” No other injuries were reported.

In an update shortly before 7 a.m., the fire department said firefighters coming in for the day shift joined the scene to continue battling the fire. Firefighters were continuing “multiple master streams” to extinguish the flames, and a fire department drone was “in operation.”

As a result of the fire’s proximity to the train track, the Chicago Transit Authority said trains are operating only between Ashland/63rd, and 63rd/Cottage Grove and Ashland/Lake, and that shuttle buses are available between Harlem and Ashland/Lake. Power to the Green Line was shut off in the area.

West Lake Street was closed from North Laramie Avenue to Cicero Avenue.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.