CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago Fire Department battled a fire in an electrical vault in the West Loop Wednesday morning.
The fire broke out around 4:02 a.m. on Green Street near Randolph Street.
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The fire triggered a Class 2 hazardous materials incident and evacuated a nearby hotel, Chicago Fire Media reported.
Chopper7 flew over the scene, flames shot up from the sidewalk.
Chopper7 flies over an electronics safe fire in the West Loop.
“There was a loud explosion and it actually smelled like burnt coffee, not really roasted coffee, and then the fire alarm went off,” said hotel guest Robert Watkins. “They went door to door, the hotel did a great job getting everyone out. When we got out, you could see a huge fire in front of the building coming out of the shaft on the street, 10-foot flames, lots of smoke, lots of crackling and popping, like little explosions, and they got us to this side of the street and the fire department came.”
CFD 2nd District Chief Robert Jurewicz provides an update on the West Loop electrical vault fire.
The fire broke out shortly after 6 a.m., according to CFD. ComEd crews on scene shut off power to the area.
ComEd said the vault lost power and 39 customers were affected. ComEd said they are working to restore power.
No injuries were reported, CFD said.
Further details were not immediately available.
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