Fire at recycling plant in Cook County, Illinois. Video of Chicago FD mobile ventilation unit in action.

Steve Redick video from a recycling warehouse fire yesterday afternoon in suburban Chicago. Toward the end of the clip you will see Steve showing the operations of MVU 923. I wonder if the unit has its own Facebook fan page? (So sorry.)

Here are excerpts from an article by Mark Lawton at the Franklin Park Herald-Journal:

The fire started between 2 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. at 615 N. Northwest Avenue in an industrial section of Northlake just east of Interstate 294.

The cement and brick building was about three-quarters empty, said Franklin Park Fire Chief David Traiforos during a phone interview after leaving the scene.

In the center of the building, however, a pile of tightly bundled packages of cloth, paper and plastic had caught fire.

The Chicago Fire Department brought in front-end loaders to push the burning bundles outside where they were broken apart and extinguished.

The building sprinkler system did some of the work, Traiforos said.

“It probably kept the building from burning down,” he said. “There’s really no damage to the building other than cutting into the roof and window damage.”

Firefighters were challenged, however, by insufficient water pressure.