Local News

Fire Rages On Downtown River Pilings

Flames Surround Mooring Cell Near State Street Bridge

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A fire broke out early Friday on several pilings alongside the State Street Bridge over the Chicago River downtown, forcing the shutdown of the bridge.

About 40 pilings caught fire, Fire Media Affairs spokesman Richard Rosado said. Rosado said the pilings near the bank of the river and are used to tie barges. 

Pumps mounted on barges were pouring water on the fire as of just before 7 a.m., and the Chicago Fire Department planned to dispatch a fire boat for heavier water to fight the blaze.

The pilings are structures that have been in place for nearly 100 years, and work as "bumpers" that protect the bridge in case a speeding boat or barge should strike it, according to a sergeant from the police Marine Unit.

"They're pretty old," according to the sergeant, who said the pilings are commonly called "dolphins" and are wooden structures surrounded by steel platings, capped of with a cement top. The sergeant said the fire may have started about 4 a.m. and it was mostly extinguished but later flared up again.

Crews may have to cut a hole in the steel of the pilings in order to put the fire out. The blaze is not believed to be suspicious and was possibly started by accident, by workers, the sergeant said.

A Central District police lieutenant also said that workers who were drilling into the piling may have accidentally started the fire, because of the heat from the drill.

The workers poured water on it when it initially started, but it
apparently rekindled, the lieutenant said.

Rosado said the cause of the fire is under investigation.

At 9 a.m. State Street remains closed in both directions between Wacker Drive and Kinzie Street, according to police News Affairs Officer Daniel O'Brien.

CBS 2's Kris Habermehl and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

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