Press Release 2

Friday, January 26, 2024    |   

Evanston Fire Department Responds to Commercial Fire at The Locker Room on Central St.

On Friday, January 26, at approximately 11:30 a.m., the Evanston Fire Department responded to reports of a fire at The Locker Room, a Northwestern University apparel business located at 1416 Central Street.

First-responding companies quickly responded to the scene and encountered darkened storefront windows and heavy smoke from the street. The fire was quickly upgraded to a Working Fire response, bringing in neighboring fire departments to assist with the fire response and other emergency calls within Evanston.

Firefighters encountered significant potential for fire spread based on heavy fire load, advanced fire conditions, and residential apartments above the structure. Due to a well-coordinated, aggressive interior attack, firefighters successfully contained the fire to the business and extinguished the blaze within 20 minutes on location. A mutual aid response was required to help with the fire investigation, which is underway at this time.

All occupants were out of the business, and residents were self-evacuating before the arrival of fire companies. There were no reports of civilian or firefighter injuries.

A portion of Central Street was briefly closed from Ashland to Asbury this morning to allow for the staging of fire vehicles, but has since reopened.