IL Fire Leaves Businesses and Apartments Damaged

An Oak Park building was severely damaged Tuesday morning, and residents were displaced, after firefighters battled an extra-alarm blaze in the 1000 block of Lake Street.

Fire officials closed off Lake, the main street in downtown Oak Park, for about two hours and put out the fire by about 1 p.m., said Fire Chief Ronald Kobyleski. Fire officials are investigating the cause, he added.

The commercial fire ignited in the back of Delia’s Kitchen, a restaurant at 1034 Lake St., around 9:40 a.m., according to village officials. Heavy smoke and flames were visible as crews worked to battle the blaze.

The 1034 Lake building contained four apartments and two businesses, which Kobyleski labeled as “uninhabitable” afterward. Village spokesman David Powers issued a statement saying the Red Cross had been contacted to aid those displaced.

Kobyleski said the blaze presented a challenge, as there were two ceilings in the roof area, where the flames were coming from.

“It was a rough fire to get to,” he said.

One firefighter suffered a minor injury, according to Kobyleski.

“There were people in the restaurant and the restaurant staff evacuated them when they smelled the smoke,” Kobyleski said.

Fire officials evacuated a series of businesses along Lake as a precaution and the street was closed between Marion Street and Forest Avenue, according to a village statement issued Tuesday afternoon.

A business in a neighboring buildings, Polished Nails and Day Spa at 1036 Lake St., suffered water damage, and neighboring buildings on the other side of Delia’s, Jerusalem Restaurant at 1030 Lake St. and Classic Cinemas Lake Theatre at 1022 Lake St., had smoke damage, Kobyleski said.

As of late Tuesday afternoon, they did not have power, but ComEd crews were on the scene, according to the fire chief.

Another neighboring business, Lou Malnati’s, was not damaged but did close for a few hours as smoke was present in the building.

“We wanted to make sure the customers wouldn’t be bothered by it. There wasn’t any damage, but there was a smell,” Lou Malnati’s spokeswoman Mindy Kaplan said.

She added the restaurant opened later in the afternoon.

Morgan Sliz, manager at Ten Thousand Villages gift shop on Marion, said she saw fire crews arriving when she got to the area around 9:50 a.m.

“It was billowing black smoke for an hour, but now it’s white,” Sliz said at around 11:40 a.m.

Kobyleski said 75 personnel representing 13 communities worked to extinguish the fire, which he said was one of the larger fires the village has experienced in recent history.

Delia’s owner Veronica Ciobotaru could not be reached for comment.

Oak Park River Forest Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Liz Holt said Delia’s has been part of the community fabric for many years.