Thick Smoke Over Lake Shore Drive Confuses Firefighters Trying To Find The Source
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A thick plume of smoke hung over Lake Shore Drive and, at one point, it put everything at a standstill.
CBS 2's Steven Graves reports how it even caused confusion among first responders.
A cloud of smoke, so thick, it turned day into night for those caught in the thick of it. Other drivers along Lake Shore Drive, turned away as it shut down traffic.
Fire crews rushed to figure out the source on Lower Wacker Drive. That was hard because the battalion chief on scene said they were sent to the wrong place at first.
John Balzer watched from his window.
"They didn't know how to get here. They went different directions and had to turn around and come back. It's a very common situation with these buildings and Lake Shore East," Balzer said.
Initial worries were over a high rise possibly on fire. Turns out, the flames ignited in a container on a construction site with wood and plastic inside.
There were no injuries. Only black marks left on concrete and a ominous sight many won't soon forget. The flames only took about five minutes to put out the flames once firefighters actually found it.
It will take a lot longer to determine how the spectacle started. It's possibly an accident, but investigators aren't ruling out arson.