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Thick smoke escapes from the ballroom section of the Vista Hotel which was undergoing renovation to reopen as a Holiday Inn on Grand Avenue in Gurnee. Larry Shapiro photo

The Gurnee Fire Department received calls from motorists driving on Grand Avenue reporting smoke coming from the Vista Hotel at 6161 W. Grand Avenue at roughly 6:45PM on Tuesday. The hotel which previously was a Holiday Inn was closed and currently undergoing renovation. When the first companies arrived, they found heavy smoke and fire visible in the ballroom section of the complex, which is separated from the three-floor building with guest rooms by a foyer and open lobby area. Engine 1322 advanced a line through the main entrance in an effort to prevent the fire from moving into the adjacent lobby. The encountered intense heat and heavy fire which was fueled in part by the ballroom tables and chairs that were being stored in one area. They backed out and companies went defensive.

Gurnee Truck 1331 operates in front of the building in the 'A' Sector as smoke pours out of the ballroom. Larry Shapiro photo

The alarm was upgraded to a MABAS Box Alarm within 15 minutes followed by a 2nd alarm shortly thereafter. Approximately 45 minutes into the fire, the decision was made to upgrade to a 5th alarm.

As the sun sets the intensity of the fire continues to grow and the volume of smoke and fire increases. Larry Shapiro photo

Two tower ladders, one from Gurnee and the other from Round Lake worked in the ‘A’ sector in front of the building and Gurnee Engine 1321 was on the side supporting hand lines and a deck gun.

Gurnee Engine 1321 operates on the east side of the structure as the engineer uses the deck gun. Larry Shapiro photo

The MABAS Division 5 Air Unit was special called to the scene to refill SCBA bottles. Larry Shapiro photo

Long lead-outs across Grand Avenue forced the road to be closed as Mundelein and Beach Park engines found hydrants on the opposite side of the street. The fire was contained to the ballroom structure which was destroyed plus minor extension into the lobby area. In all, there were 23 departments represented at the scene representing the majority of Lake County Division 4 departments plus others from Divisions 3 and 5. The list includes Round Lake, Antioch, Fox Lake, Mundelein, Beach Park, Pleasant Prairie (WI), Libertyville, Newport, Zion, Waukegan, Deerfield, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, Lake Zurich, Spring Grove, Long Grove, Countryside, Great Lakes, Lake Forest, Lake Villa, Buffalo Grove, Grayslake, Highland Park, Wauconda, plus the MABAS Division 5 Air Unit, and the MESS Canteen.

Firefighters continue to douse the rubble after the bulk of the fire has been knocked down. Larry Shapiro photo

Antioch Engine 2121was deployed in the front of the building with a light tower to illuminate the fire scene. Gurnee Engine 1322 on the right was the first engine on the scene. Larry Shapiro photo

Larry Shapiro and Tim Olk went to the fire and submitted several images. Larry has a large gallery which will be accessible HERE and Tim has a large gallery that is building HERE. larry will also have a video to post after getting some sleep.

Fox Lake Squad 2251 was also setup in the parking lot off of Grand Avenue to illuminate the scene and fill air bottles. Larry Shapiro photo

A large excavator was brought to the scene to knockdown the walls of the fire building and sift through the rubble allowing firefighters to extinguish the fire that was buried underneath the debris. Larry Shapiro photo

There is a brief article HERE about the fire as well as HERE and HERE.