An extra-alarm fire at Chicago's old Post Office has been struck out with no injuries. Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford says firefighters were called to the long-vacant structure around 10:30 a.m. The fire was extinguished after about an hour.
Assistant Deputy Fire Commissioner William Vogt says a pile of "old oily rags" fueled the fire, but it was unclear what sparked it. Earlier, black smoke could be seen pluming from the building, which straddles a freeway.
The post office closed in 1995. However construction crews have recently been onsite for a restoration and renovation project that's expected to include a rooftop park and landscaping along the Chicago River. Construction on the building first began in the 1920s and it's on the National Register of Historic Places.
