It took local firefighters roughly 10 hours to extinguish a large structure fire in Oak Park that burned into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The Oak Park Fire Department responded to a significant structure fire on the 1200 block of N. Taylor Ave. at approximately 8:57 p.m. on Feb. 17. The fire continued to burn until Wednesday morning just before 7 a.m., village officials said in a statement.
In the hours since, firefighters have remained on scene to contain “spot fires” that have emerged since the blaze was brought substantially under control, officials said.
The building is a three-story apartment building with some retail space facing North Avenue.
Firefighters closed traffic on North Avenue between Ridgeland Avenue and Austin Boulevard while they battled the fire, officials said.
A passerby initially reported smoke and flames coming from a window at 1239 N. Taylor. The fire spread and OPFD requested a Level 1 box alarm, bringing many neighboring fire departments to the scene to help put out the fire, village officials said.
The building is vacant, and no one was inside at the time the fire broke out, village officials said.
No firefighters were injured during the response. The Office of the State Fire Marshal is leading an investigation into the cause of the fire, village officials said.
