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Fire closes bank for remainder of the day
The Lincolnwood Fire Department evacuated the MB Financial Bank, 6401 N. Lincoln Ave., July 19 as they dealt with a fire in the computer room. | Irv Leavitt~Sun-Times Media
Updated: August 27, 2012 10:44AM
LINCOLNWOOD — There was an unscheduled bank holiday last week at MB Financial, at 6401 Lincoln Ave., after a computer fire in the basement smoked up the building.
A server apparently malfunctioned July 19, and noxious smoke poured out of the computer vault in the basement, into a furnace room, and then throughout the building, Lincolnwood Fire Department Battalion Chief Larry Lariviere said.
The mid-morning incident found the evacuated employees spilled onto the parking lot, as firefighters snuffed the fire, then cleared the smoke from an area of the building with no windows, and only a grate for ventilation.
Lariviere said they lined up two ejector fans to lead the smoke out through the grated. The building was safe after less than 90 minutes, but the air smelled like burned wiring, inside and outside the building.
“The odor was still offensive,” Lariviere said.
“A lot of them decided not to go in,” he said, “and they closed for business the rest of the day.”
