Fire swept through a McDonald’s restaurant that was closed and under renovation on Aurora’s West Side Thursday afternoon.
The fire began around 4:20 p.m. at the McDonald’s at 1023 N. Lake St. About six construction workers were inside welding near the ceiling when some insulation caught on fire, Aurora Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim Rhodes said.
“They noticed it and tried to put it out, but it spread so quickly that they weren’t able to and got out of the building right (away),” Rhodes said. “It was a very fast burning fire.”
The fire was still burning at 6:30 p.m., Rhodes said.
Around 35 firefighters worked to put out the blaze at the restaurant, which had been undergoing extensive renovation.
Bob Chantel was driving from Batavia toward Aurora when he saw the thick, black smoke from the fire rising into the sky.
"I thought, ‘something's burning,’" he said.
Meanwhile, Lake Street was a traffic mess, and Chantel, like many others, was scurrying to take side streets to get through.
Police asked drivers late Thursday afternoon to avoid Route 31 and Lake Street between Indian Trial and Illinois Avenue due to the fire.
Many people packed the parking lots across the street from the fire which serve the Ace Hardware and next to the former Carson Pirie Scott building. They got out of their cars to watch the fire.
A line of people formed with their cellphones out, taking video as two ladder trucks poured water down on top of the burning building.
"I guess it ain't going to be a McDonald's anymore," said Don Smart, who had stopped to watch.
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