LINCOLN PARK — An early investigation has found there were no signs of arson in the fire that gutted the former Mulligan School building, Chicago Fire Department officials said Wednesday.
The fire closed down a three-block stretch of Sheffield Avenue for most of the day Tuesday and caused extensive damage to the building which a developer was turning into condo units.
"Right now there's nothing to indicate there's any suspicion of foul play or nefarious activity," said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
Langford said the cause of the blaze remained under investigation.
The fire, which broke out early Tuesday morning and shut down service for a portion of the Brown and Purple "L" lines, occurred during record-setting cold temperatures leaving the building encased in ice.
Onlookers were stopping in front of the school throughout the day Wednesday to snap photos on their smartphones, while other photographers made the trip to Lincoln Park to capture shots of the building, which was built it 1889.
Derek Pozmanski made the trip from his home in Bridgeview to shoot photos of the former school Wednesday.
He made the same trip to photograph a Bridgeport warehouse fire in 2013 that left the massive building coated in ice.
"This is the biggest beauty," he said. "I mean, look at the icicles."
The 42-year-old contractor, who has been working on a home across the street from Mulligan School, said he had been watching the developer's work for months before the fire.
"It's a shame," he said.
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