CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- One person suffered minor injuries and dozens of people were forced from a Loop office building briefly, because of a fire that appears to have been deliberately set overnight.
The fire happened shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday morning on the first floor of the George Dunne Cook County Office building at 69 W. Washington, according to Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
“Video shows that somebody was sleeping in that Citibank lobby. It’s a revolving door, and apparently, anybody can get in. And, someone was in there and someone else came in and ignited the fire,” he said.
Langford said the person, who appeared to start the fire using paper bank slips, left afterwards.
The fire spokesman said 200 people, who had been working in offices and doing construction in the building, were evacuated for a short time.
As a precaution, as soon as it was determined there were flames, fire officials declared it a 2-11 alarm fire, bringing in extra equipment and personnel. Langford said the fire was quickly extinguished.
In 2003, six people died in a fire that happened in the upper floors of that same building, prompting changes in the city’s fire code for high-rise buildings. The new regulations required all high-rises built before 1975 to set up voice communication systems, sprinkler systems, or other mechanisms and fireproofing to protect stairwells and openings on balconies or vestibules.
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