The cause of the fire that burned down a troubled apartment building in Oak Park last month is still under investigation, village officials said this week.
The three-story apartment building at the intersection of North and Taylor avenues burned for more than 10 hours beginning the evening of Feb. 17. The major fire came after years of documented Oak Park fire code violations and other health and safety issues as the village tried over multiple lawsuits to hold building management accountable through the county court system.
A two-day investigation by the Oak Park Fire Department, Illinois Fire Marshal and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tabacco and Explosives into the fire has not identified what specifically started the blaze, according to the village.
“The cause of the fire has been classified as ‘undetermined,’ and the investigation remains open pending further technical analysis,” the village said in a statement. “The building had been vacant and secured prior to the incident, with gas and most electrical services inactive. Investigators noted that a circuit serving first-floor public lighting and emergency systems remained active and was found in a tripped position following the fire.”
“The fire’s rapid and extensive spread has been attributed to a critical structural feature: an open, unrated central staircase that acted as a vertical flue, channeling fire from the first floor up through to the roof. The early burn through of a former skylight above the staircase further accelerated this effect, ultimately resulting in the complete loss of the roof assembly and severe damage across all three floors of the building.”
A K-9 investigative unit had been brought in to look for evidence of arson, the village said.
“An accelerant-detection K-9 was deployed on both days of the investigation and gave no alerts for the presence of ignitable liquids,” the village said. “Despite a thorough examination of the scene, investigators were unable to definitively identify the ignition source.”
Oak Park police and other village officials had only cleared and sealed off the building two weeks before it burned down. Building owner Sameer Chhabria told Wednesday Journal last month that persistent squatting at the property had been to blame for much of the financial and property standards issues that plagued the building.
“It got out of hand,” he said.
Repair crews had been on site the day of the fire, Chhabria said.
Investigators found evidence that someone had gained entry to the building through a window before the fire.
“A window in the apartment nearest to the origin of the fire was found to be breached prior to the arrival of fire crews,” the village said.
Legal records related to the village’s inspections of the property paint a picture of blatant safety violations and squalid conditions that fly in the face of Oak Park’s reputation for idyllic suburban living. Safety violations found at the property before the fire included leaking sewage, exposed wiring, open electrical boxes, an unmaintained water boiler and an exterior door that couldn’t be locked and allowed free access to the building.
Chhabria owed at least $40,000 in village fines in connection with code violations at the property, according to a February filing by Oak Park attorneys