The fire that tore through parts of a building that houses Chicago's Second City theater company injured five people and forced the cancellation of Thursday's performances.
The fire started Wednesday afternoon in the Adobo Grill restaurant in the neighboring Piper's Alley building, which eventually spread through vents to the roof and caused extensive damage to the Second City offices, reported WGN-TV. It took several hours to contain the fire and, during that time, four firefighters and one other person were injured.
In the aftermath of the blaze, Larry Langford, spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, said the Second City lobby suffered water and smoke damage and that runoff water from firefighting operations poses a serious threat to the theater itself, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"We had thousands and thousands of gallons of water running out, going into the street and pooling above the theater," said Langford. "We had to redirect it down so it wouldn't collapse [the ceiling] into the theater."
Tyler Alexander, VP of brand and marketing for Second City, noted the theaters weren't particulary damaged, but the aforementioned water carried debris into common areas, forcing management to cancel Thursday's performances and move that day's classes off site, according to CBS Chicago.
Alexander also mentioned it would be hard to give a date for when Second City would be in working order again, since management was deciding cancellations on a day-by-day basis.
"We could be up and running tomorrow or it could be as long as a week," he said.
