Excerpts from Chicago.cbslocal.com:
Not since the Chicago Riots of 1968 has this city witnessed this many fires. The day after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. died, there were 36 major fires in one night. This past weekend, in a little over a 24 hour period, there were more than 80 fires.
They started Saturday night in the city’s central district downtown. There was a small but growing fire at a sports store on Michigan Avenue, but by the time fire trucks maneuvered through the thousands of protesters, the store was engulfed in flames.
The scene played out over the next 30 hours. Firefighters responded to 85 calls, each of which involved retailers, who once had thriving business that were first ravaged by looters, then turned into infernos. One of the biggest fires was a beauty supply store on 79th and Damen.
Most of the fires were in communities on the West and South Side.
None has been fully investigated because at many, there were no police on the scene. Department protocol is not to conduct investigations without police present. Additionally, it was too dangerous. The structures were not safe for firefighters or for accelerant sniffing dogs. Under the circumstances, the cause of most of the fires will never be determined.
