Firefighters Respond To Blaze At Blommer Chocolate Factory

CHICAGO (CBS) -- For the second time in as many weeks, Chicago firefighters were responding to a fire Tuesday afternoon at the Blommer Chocolate Company factory in the Fulton River District neighborhood.

According to the Chicago Fire Department, it was a mechanical fire that started in the cooling tower on the roof at the Blommer factory, at 600 West Kinzie Street, around 1:45 p.m. At least one machine caught fire.

All 200 employees self-evacuated, have been accounted for and are safe.

The fire comes 11 days after a small fire prompted an evacuation of the Blommer plant. About 80 employees had to evacuate on Nov. 3, after a piece of equipment used to bag cocoa overheated and caught fire on the southeast corner of the fourth floor.

No one was injured in the Nov. 3 fire.

The fires appear to be unrelated.

The Health Department will determine when it is safe for the company to start making chocolate again.

Read more
f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.