Porch Builders Narrowly Escape Falling Roof

He said that I can call him Antonio, though he assured me it's not really his name, even after I assured him that I'm not really a reporter.

We were standing in the alley behind 1239 N. Ashland, watching firefighters put out a fire that began at approx. 10:30 a.m this morning, when "Antonio" and three of his fellow workers from 773 Porches, billed as Chicago's Largest Porch Builder, per its truck, went to the trash to throw out debri from their job-- ironically pulling out an old fire escape in which to install a new one, along with a porch--when the roof caved in.

"See those three holes at the top of the building," Antonio asked me, pointing with his finger. "That's where it caved in."

When the roof caved in, it collided with the wiring, which caused the fire inside of the building, adjacent to a storage area for mattresses at Mike's Furniture, which maintains a storefront a few doors down, at 1259 N. Ashland.


"Almost 100% of the time we are working beneath [the facade]," Antonio told me, to which I responded that they chose the right time to throw out the trash.


I saw the three holes, along with a look of extreme relief on Antonio's face. Jesus on a crufix dangled amid the hairs on his shirtless chest, and no doubt it was luck, or faith, or a combination of both that kept the situation from being a tragedy for the four men. It appeared that there were no injuries, and that perhaps the mattress storage area for Mike's Furniture might lose merchandise due to damage, or more accurately, after a call to Mike's it turned out that the only damage was a few wet mattress from putting out the fire next door. "All of our mattress are fire proof," said an informative, and cheerful clerk at Mike's who wished to remain anonymous.

In other city news, I attended a community CAPs meeting this morning at the 14th District Police Station in Logan Square, to report on it for Street Scene, the chamber's weekly e-newsletter, and learned about a few things that the police are doing to help out business owners, including a free, and confidential safety assessment by a veteran officer, Dr. Ron Rufo, pictured below, whom spoke at the gathering. Rufo said that he conducted about 300 walk throughs last year, and will help make sure a business isn't doing anything unknowingly that could attract crime. If you are a business owner, and would like Rufo, or one of his associates to assess your business, call 312-745-5838 x84652 to set up a free consultation.

Oh yeah, and though vandalism like graffiti is on the rise, there has been a 20% increase in arrests for graffiti, and eight arrests in District 14 since May 23rd, the last CAPs meeting. Per another presenter, Officer Williams, there would be more arrests if more building owners attended the court hearings. The owner of the building, per Williams, must be present at the hearing in order for the case to be heard. The down side? Since many of the offenders have lawyers ("These are not kids, or poor people," Williams said) it can unfortunately draw the cases out, Williams explained. The last graffiti punk captured? A 32-year old, Anglo American restaurant manager from the suburbs...