Extra-Alarm Fire Destroys Several Bronzeville Businesses
By Kate Shepherd in News on Nov 18, 2015 6:00PM
The fire on 47th Street, via Chicago Fire Department Media.
An extra-alarm fire destroyed several businesses in Bronzeville Tuesday night including a pharmacy, a dollar store and a tax preparation firm.
No injuries were reported in the fire which started around 10:25 p.m. in the 100 block of East 47th Street, according to the Tribune. It took about four hours for firefighters to put the flames out.
It started in the dollar store's one-story building and quickly spread. The Chicago Fire Department to send at least four fire engines, two firetrucks and a tower ladder truck, additional command staff and extra equipment to put out the fire.
It's a devastating loss for the neighborhood and the people who lost their workplaces. 45-year-old Mike Jones has worked at the dollar store for 10 years and was upset that "there ain't gonna be no work tomorrow," he told the Tribune.
A lot of people in the area relied on the now-destroyed Roger Pharmacy for their prescriptions, 19-year-old Ellis Davis told the Tribune. The lifelong Bronzeville resident said he's never seen such a severe fire.
"The only things that happen in this neighborhood are robberies and shootings," he said to the Tribune. "This is new."
The cause is still under investigation.