Aug 6, 2008 4:37 pm US/Central
Blaze In Little Vietnam Might Be Tied To Storms
Source Says Business In Argyle Street Building Was Using Generator After Power Outage
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
The severe weather that pounded Chicago on Monday might be indirectly to blame for a stubborn fire that destroyed several businesses on the North Side. CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports on the connection to Monday's storms.
The fire first broke out around 1 a.m. Wednesday and quickly consumed the entire building at 1108 W. Argyle. The fire was extinguished by 3 p.m., but it flared up again Wednesday afternoon, bringing firefighters back to the scene.
Battalion Chief Steve Little said, "With a fire like this, it's not uncommon for us to come back a couple times for hotspots. The building is structurally unsound, so we don't want to put anybody in the building and we lob water from the outside."
The 2-11 alarm fire in what's known as Chicago's Little Vietnam area was called in around 1 a.m. Wednesday. In just a short time, it interrupted nearby CTA Red Line service and consumed all four businesses inside.
The building houses two Vietnamese grocery stores - Mien Hoa and Vinh Tho - both of which specialized in hard-to-find Southeast Asian food items. The building also housed Tian Giang Restaurant, and the Globeserve Financial Services firm.
"It looks to me like a total loss," Little said.
But sources said the fire might have – indirectly – been storm related. Sources said the owners of a market inside the building were frustrated that they didn't have any power as a result of the storms and bought a generator, then left it running inside the building, which likely sparked the blaze.
Fire officials couldn't confirm that and owners of the other businesses weren't clear on a cause, either.
But Joe Trinh, who owns an herb shop and realty business destroyed in the fire, said all of the owners will look after each other as they start all over again.
"Insurance, I think they will take care of that so I hope it goes smoothly and … as soon as possible to rebuild," Trinh said.
A restaurant was also destroyed. No one was hurt in the fire.
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