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Fire damages packages at UPS hub
December 16, 2004
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HODGKINS-- A fire early Thursday at a UPS hub in suburban Chicago damaged a number of packages and forced the temporary evacuation of more than 1,000 workers, company officials said.
Five or six trailers on the loading dock caught fire but no one was injured, UPS spokesman Mike Johl said.
The fire never spread to the 1.5-million-square-foot center, which employs 8,000 workers and handles 2 million packages a day during the holiday season, Johl said.
"There was a little bit of smoke damage inside the building, but no one was harmed," said UPS spokeswoman Christine McManus. "The fire department was incredibly responsive."
The blaze started around 12:15 a.m. and was extinguished about 3:15 a.m., officials said. Workers were able to return shortly afterward, McManus said.
Fire officials did not immediately determine what caused the blaze.
UPS was unsure how many parcels were in the burned trailers.
"We will do everything possible to find out which packages were there and notify our customers," McManus said.
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