Church building damaged in extra-alarm fire in Albany Park, third fire in the neighborhood this week

Firefighters battled an extra-alarm blaze at a church Wednesday afternoon in Albany Park — the third fire within blocks of each other this week.

The fire broke out around 1:30 p.m. at House on the Rock Church in the 4500 block of North Spaulding Avenue, Chicago fire officials said.

Crews elevated the fire to a 2-11 alarm but it was extinguished by 2:15 p.m., officials said. No injuries were reported, though teams continued to search the site.

The church was heavily damaged by the fire, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. He said the building had been “unused for some time.”

Two other fires have occurred blocks away within the last week. On Monday, popular brewery Twisted Hippo was destroyed and an apartment building was gutted in a massive fire in the 4300 block of North Richmond.

Another fire broke out Tuesday in the 3300 block of West Cullom Avenue, injuring a firefighter.

Langford said it was too early to say if the fires were connected. Unsafe conditions at the fire on Richmond have kept investigators from examining the site, Langford said Tuesday.

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