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Oct. 02--Tanks used to ship chemicals blew up at a far South Side industrial plant just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday, creating a 200-foot-wide debris field and prompting a still-and-box alarm and level 2 hazmat response from the Chicago Fire Department.
"Some tanks blew up. There's a pretty good sized debris field" at the plant in the 12000 block of South Doty Avenue, said Larry Langford, Chicago Fire Department spokesman.
The Fire Department delayed using water because it was not immediately clear exactly what was burning, Langford said, but firefighters eventually supressed the fire using foam.
The still-and-box alarm was struck out about 11:40 p.m., but the hazmat response remained in effect until about midnight, according to fire officials.
Langford said the Chicago Fire Department was at the same location a few months ago for another hazmat event -- when chemicals in a tank began to heat up and had to be cooled -- but details about that event were not available.
Nobody was reported injured in tonight's fire, Langford said.
During the fire, a ramp for the Bishop Ford Freeway at 115th Street was closed, but it since has been reopened, according to a state police trooper.
