Fire department authorities say an early Sunday blaze that ravaged a commercial building in south suburban Alsip was suspicious.
An Alsip police officer on patrol saw flames shooting out of the roof of the 1-story commercial building at 4651 W. 120th St. and called it in about 4:45 a.m., according to Alsip Deputy Chief Tom Styczynski.
“It was suspicious because of the amount of fire that was there and the time of day,” Styczynski said.
No one was inside the flat-roofed building at the time and there were no injuries.
Representatives from the state fire marshal’s office are on the scene today investigating what caused the blaze, he said.
The structure houses three business, including Royal Auto Transport, which recently opened in June and was the most heavily damaged, the deputy chief said. Two other businesses have been there for many years.
Royal Transport is a business that ships vehicles from car dealerships to auto body shops overseas, according to Styczynski.
It took about 45 minutes for the Alsip department, with help from some neighboring departments, to put the fire out.
The building was destroyed. A dollar damage estimate was not immediately available but tenants are working with their insurance companies to develop one, the deputy chief said.
No building code violations were found and Styczynski said there have been no other recent fires at the building, which was built in the late 1960s or early 1970s.
