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13 People Overcome With Heat, Hospitalized After AC Goes Out At Post Office

By Kelly Bauer | July 30, 2016 10:31am | Updated on July 30, 2016 11:00am

CHICAGO — More than a dozen people were overcome with heat at Downtown's River North post office on Saturday, officials said.

About 8 a.m., the Fire Department responded to the post office at 540 N. Dearborn St. for a call of a person short of breath, said Juan Hernandez, a Chicago Fire spokesman. They found that "a number of people" had been overcome by heat while on the second floor of the building.

About 135 people were working in the building at the time, Reynolds said.

"There was some sort of air conditioning malfunction there this morning and it became unbearable ... and unsafe to work there," said Mark Reynolds, a spokesman for the United States Postal Service.

Thirteen people were taken to Northwestern Hospital with heat exhaustion, Reynolds said. Their conditions were not available, but they were listed as "stable," Hernandez said, and 23 people refused treatment.

The building has been evacuated and employees are working at another post office for the day while air conditioning is repaired, Reynolds said. That post office is closed for all of Saturday and Sunday, but it should be open by Monday. People who need to stop by a post office can go to Canal and Harrison, Reynolds said.

People who live in zip codes 60610, 60611 and 60654 will "likely not get their mail delivered today," Reynolds said.

“We regret any inconvenience this suspension may cause for our customers,” said acting Postmaster Tangela Bush in a statement. “Our first priority is to ensure our employees have a safe working environment. We will resume our Fort Dearborn operations at the earliest appropriate opportunity.”

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