Chicago firefighters battle huge warehouse blaze

CHICAGO (AP) — Frigid, 10-degree temperatures added to the difficulty as firefighters battled a warehouse fire on the city South Side that was described by officials as "extreme" and one of the largest in recent years.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported late Tuesday that more than 170 firefighters responded to the five-alarm blaze at an abandoned warehouse in the 3700 block of South Ashland Avenue.

One firefighter was taken to a hospital with a minor back injury, the newspaper reports.

Fire officials say the blaze was first spotted just after 9 p.m. and was contained about 11:45 p.m.

Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford says the blaze required the largest response he could recall since a fire in 2004 and that suburban departments would have been called in if it had gotten any larger.