Firefighters battled an extra-alarm fire in the old Brach's Candy Co. building on the West Side Wednesday morning.
A 2-11 alarm was followed by a 3-11 alarm at 7:30 a.m. for the blaze in the old candy factory building at 500 North Cicero Ave., a Chicago Fire Department dispatcher said.
Fire crews shut down Cicero Avenue between Lake and Ohio streets while they extinguished the flames. The fire was struck a short time later.
The 11-story building measures about 200 feet by 200 feet, fire Media Director Larry Langford said. The fire was on one of the upper floors of the vacant building. The cause is under investigation.
The extra alarms were not sounded because of the size of the fire, but because of the challenge of getting water to the fire.
Water was not readily available at the building, prompting firefighters to connect hoses to fire hydrants, run the water through a pumper truck and another hose before reaching the fire, Langford said.
The 2-11-alarm was sounded at about 6:55 a.m.
A 3-11 alarm sends 12 engines, 10 trucks, the district chief, the deputy commissioner, four battalion chiefs and about 125 firefighters to the blaze.
The No. 54 bus was not running in either direction at the time of the fire, but it was back on a regular schedule by 9 a.m.
One firefighter was taken to a hospital after suffering a foot injury at the scene.
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