Tim Olk photo

Tim Olk photo

Tim Olk photo

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

A massive extra-alarm fire ripped through a vacant building in Arlington Heights that once housed a plastics manufacturing company Thursday afternoon and left it a total loss.

Deputy Chief Pete Ahlman said the fire department responded to a 911 call at 6 a.m. and discovered that the sprawling, one-story brick building at Arthur Avenue and Davis Street, just south of the Metra Union Pacific railroad tracks, was engulfed in flames. “When we arrived, we had fire showing through the roof, and one minute later, the roof collapsed,” Ahlman said.

About 100 firefighters from Arlington Heights and several neighboring northwest suburban towns fought the blaze, which Ahlman said was one of the biggest commercial building fires in the village’s recent history, with 40-foot flames shooting through the roof. Firefighters had the blaze under control by noon, using a backhoe to demolish some portions of the building that were partially collapsed in hopes of providing better access to the structure’s interior.

thanks Tom

Video clips from Scott Peterson

more coming tomorrow

Tags: 2-Alarm fire in Arlington Heights, Deputy Chief Peter Ahlman, fire scene photos, fire scene video, massive fire destroys vacant Arlington Heights building, Scott Peterson, Tim Olk