About 2300 hours on Nov 20 the Chicago Fire Department responded to a commercial fire in the 2300 Block of west Lake St.
Arriving units found fire blowing out the upper floor windows of an apparently vacant 3 story building.
Access was hampered to the front of the building by the overhead cta train tracks. Fortunately a large school playlot in sector 2 and a vacant lot in sectors 3 and 4a mitigated most of the access problems.There was a severe exposure in a 2 sty commercial in sector 4, but agressive interior and exterior attack minimized the intrusion of the fire.
Heavy streams by Squad 1's snorkel and tower ladder 5 knocked down the fire in good order. The fire went to a 2-11 alarm which brought a response of 8 enginies 4 trucks 2 tower ladders 1 heavy rescue plus numerous command and support staff.