On Tuesday night, a huge vacant warehouse on Chicago's South Side went up in flames. Fire department officials said it was the biggest blaze the department has had to battle in years and one-third of all Chicago firefighters were on the scene at one point or another trying to put out the flames. Complicating the scene was the weather -- temperatures were well below freezing and the spray from the fire hoses encased everything below in ice, including buildings, vehicles, and some firefighting gear. The warehouse was gutted, but the fire was contained. Fire crews remain on the scene as some smaller flare-ups continue to need attention.
Chicago's Freezing Fire
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Read moreA truck is covered in ice as firefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse in Chicago, Illinois, on January 23, 2013. More than 200 firefighters battled the five-alarm fire as temperatures were in the single digits. #
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Read moreChicago firefighters battle a five-alarm blaze in single digit temperatures at a warehouse on the city's South Side, Bridgeport neighborhood, on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreIcicles form on a fire hose as Chicago firefighters battle a five-alarm blaze in a warehouse on the city's South Side, on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreA Chicago firefighter's helmet, covered with ice while fighting a warehouse fire on January 23, 2013, in Chicago. #
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Read moreFirefighters work to extinguish a massive blaze at a vacant warehouse on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreFirefighters spray down hot spots on an ice covered warehouse that caught fire on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreFirefighters assess the scene of an ice-covered warehouse that caught fire Tuesday night, in Chicago, on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreAn ice-encrusted truck is blanketed in smoke after a warehouse fire in Chicago, on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreFirefighters spray down hot spots on a warehouse that caught fire in Chicago, on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreFirefighters continue battling a massive warehouse fire on January 23, 2013 in Chicago, that officials say is one of the largest fires in recent years. #
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Read moreSmoke moves over icy trucks behind a firefighter at a vacant warehouse fire, on January 23, 2013 in Chicago. #
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Read moreIce-covered trucks and barrels are blanketed in smoke after a warehouse fire in Chicago, on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreA truck sits encased in ice after a warehouse fire in Chicago, on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreIce formations jut out from the walls of the warehouse that had burned the night before. Firehoses spraying water on the building for hours in freezing temperatures built up ice structures on every surface. #
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Read moreA truck is encased in ice, after a warehouse fire in Chicago, on January 23, 2013. #
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Read moreChicago Fire Department Lieutenant Charley De Jesus walks around an ice-covered warehouse that caught fire in Chicago, on January 23, 2013. #
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