Crime & Safety

Update: Three Firefighters Hospitalized After Halsted Street Blaze

Twenty fire departments assisted in extinguishing the big Chicago Heights fire.

Updated at 5:10 a.m. on June 29, 2012.

Three firefighters were sent to St. James Hospital after battling a huge fire in an abandoned building on Halsted Street.

The was originally called to an address in the 1500 block of Halsted Street Thursday evening after 7 p.m. The responding firefighters called for assistance after seeing the size of the fire, according to Fire Chief James Angell.

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"Our first arriving companies pulled up to a building with 50-foot flames coming from the roof," Angell said, adding that 20 fire departments came into to assist Chicago Heights.

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The building, formerly occupied by East Side Wholesale at 1516 Halsted Street and A&P Grocery store, was ablaze for several hours before being extinguished.

A Chicago Heights paid-on-call firefighter suffering from heat exhaustion was still in the emergency room as of 2 a.m., according to Angell. Another Chicago Heights firefighter suffering breathing difficulties was admitted for observation.

A Sauk Village firefighter suffering from heat exhaustion was treated and released.

The state fire marshal is investigating the cause of the fire. There were no other injuries reported.

Among the fire departments at the scene were Richton Park, Frankfort, Flossmoor, University Park, Glenwood, South Holland, South Chicago Heights and several more.

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