Soldier who lost 4 limbs has double-arm transplant

The first soldier to survive after losing all four limbs in the Iraq war has received a double-arm transplant.

Brendan Marrocco had the operation on Dec. 18 at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, his father said Monday. The 26-year-old Marrocco, who is from New York City, was injured by a roadside bomb in 2009.

He also received bone marrow from the same dead donor who supplied his new arms. That novel approach is aimed at helping his body accept the new limbs with minimal medication to prevent rejection.

The military is sponsoring operations like these to help wounded troops. About 300 have lost arms or hands in the wars.

"He was the first quad amputee to survive" from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there have been four others since then, said Brendan Marrocco's father, Alex Marrocco. "He was really excited to get new arms."

The Marroccos want to thank the donor's family for "making a selfless decision ... making a difference in Brendan's life," the father said.

Surgeons plan to discuss the transplant at a news conference with the patient on Tuesday.

The 13-hour operation was led by Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, plastic surgery chief at Johns Hopkins, and is the seventh double-hand or double-arm transplant done in the United States. Lee led three of those earlier operations when he previously worked at the University of Pittsburgh, including the only above-elbow transplant that had been done at the time, in 2010.

Marrocco's "was the most complicated one" so far, Lee said in an interview Monday. It will take more than a year to know how fully Marrocco will be able to use the new arms, Lee said.

"The maximum speed is an inch a month for nerve regeneration," he explained. "We're easily looking at a couple years" until the full extent of recovery is known.

While at Pittsburgh, Lee pioneered the novel immune suppression approach used for Marrocco. The surgeon led hand transplant operations on five patients, giving them marrow from their donors in addition to the new limbs. All five recipients have done well and four have been able to take just one anti-rejection drug instead of combination treatments most transplant patients receive.

Minimizing anti-rejection drugs is important because they have side effects and raise the risk of cancer over the long term. Those risks have limited the willingness of surgeons and patients to do more hand, arm and even face transplants. Unlike a life-saving heart or liver transplant, limb transplants are aimed at improving quality of life, not extending it.

Quality of life is a key concern for people missing arms and hands — prosthetics for those limbs are not as advanced as those for feet and legs.

Lee has received funding for his work from AFIRM, the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, a cooperative research network of top hospitals and universities around the country that the government formed about five years ago. With government money, he and several other plastic surgeons around the country are preparing to do more face transplants, possibly using the new minimal immune suppression approach.

Marrocco expects to spend three to four months at Hopkins, then return to a military hospital to continue physical therapy, his father said. Before the operation, he had been living with his older brother in a handicapped-accessible home on New York's Staten Island built with the help of several charities.

The home was heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy last fall.

Despite being in a lot of pain for some time after the operation, Marrocco showed a sense of humor, his father said. He had a hoarse voice from a tube in his throat during the long surgery, decided that he sounded like Al Pacino, and started doing movie lines.

"He was making the nurses laugh," Alex Marrocco said.

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AP writer Alex Dominguez contributed to this report.

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Barbara Walters hospitalized with chickenpox

NEW YORK (AP) — Barbara Walters would probably like to hit the reset button on 2013.

She's got the chickenpox and remains hospitalized more than a week after going in after falling and hitting her head at a pre-inaugural party in Washington on Jan. 19. A fellow host on the "The View," Whoopi Goldberg, said Monday that Walters has been transferred to a New York hospital and hopes to go home soon.

"She's been told to rest. She's not allowed any visitors," Goldberg said. "And we're telling you, Barbara, no scratching!"

The 83-year-old news veteran, who underwent heart surgery in May 2010, apparently avoided a disease that hits most people when they are children. It can be serious in older people because of the possibility of complications like pneumonia.

Even after concern about her fall had subsided, Walters had been kept hospitalized last week because of a lingering fever, and doctors found the unexpected cause.

"We love you, we miss you," Goldberg said on "The View," in a message to the show's inventor. "We just don't want to hug you."

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Japan eased safety standards ahead of Boeing 787 rollout

Japan's government stepped in to give Boeing Co.'s now-grounded 787 Dreamliner and its made-in-Japan technology a boost in 2008 by easing safety regulations, fast-tracking the rollout of the groundbreaking jet for Japan's biggest airlines, according to records and participants in the process.

The concessions by an advisory panel to Japan's transport ministry reflected pressure from All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) and a push to support Japanese firms that supply 35 percent of the 787 from the carbon-fiber in its wings to sophisticated electrical systems and batteries used to save fuel, people involved in the deliberations told Reuters.

"I believe the request for the changes came initially from the airlines. Ultimately, it was a discussion of measures to lower operating costs for the airlines," said Masatoshi Harigae, head of aviation at Japan's Aerospace Exploration Agency, one of the outside advisers who urged the eased regulatory standards.

There is no suggestion that easing regulatory standards contributed to the problems facing the Dreamliner, idled around the world after a string of malfunctions ranging from fuel leaks to battery meltdowns. There is also no evidence to suggest that continuing the mandate for more frequent manual inspections for new aircraft, including the Boeing 787, before 2008 would have helped catch signs of trouble earlier.

The looser regulations did not specifically address the risk of the Dreamliner's powerful batteries catching fire, the risk that safety investigators have zeroed in on in recent weeks.

But the steps taken by Japan's Civil Aviation Bureau in 2008 underscore how the deep commercial ties between Boeing and its Japanese suppliers and the backing of ANA and JAL helped build support for an easing of certification standards, based on a review of meeting records by the advisory panel released by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and comments from three of the seven experts who participated.

ANA and JAL declined to comment, deferring questions on regulatory standards to aviation officials and the ministry. Boeing in Tokyo said it couldn't immediately comment on the rule changes.

"We have not brought down our standards in comparison to other countries. This was a pragmatic revision," Tatsuyuki Shimazu, Chief Air Worthiness Engineer at the Civil Aviation Bureau, said.

ONGOING PROBE

Earlier this month, ANA was forced to make an emergency landing on a 787 domestic flight after a battery overheated and partially melted, triggering smoke alarms in the cockpit. The probe into that incident may take weeks or months as investigators still lack basic data to understand what went wrong, people involved have said.

In the meantime, the indefinite grounding of the Dreamliner has raised costs for both ANA and JAL and threatened to push back plans both carriers had for growth and new routes based on the new aircraft, analysts have said.

Boeing has yet to say whether it will compensate carriers for flight cancellations and higher operating costs. "We have been talking with our customers since (the 787 was grounded), but the details are confidential," said Rob Henderson, a Boeing spokesman in Tokyo.

After three meetings by a panel of industry and policy experts that concluded in March 2008, Japan's transport ministry said it would adopt 40 proposals to streamline regulations surrounding new aircraft. At the time, the ministry said the easier regulatory standards were designed in part to "quickly realize the benefits from the introduction of the 787."

ANA, the Dreamliner's biggest customer, and JAL committed to buy the first 787 in 2004, helping Boeing kick-start orders for the futuristic plane. Both subsequently increased their orders, with ANA planning to eventually fly 66 Dreamliners.

"At the time there was a lot of confidence in the aircraft. It was a discussion of measures to lower operating costs for the airlines," said Harigae.

Japan's government agencies often convene blue-ribbon panels of outside experts to review regulatory policy changes, as the transport ministry did for aircraft safety rules in 2007.

QUICKER TURNAROUNDS

Changes endorsed by the aviation group, including 40 revised safety guidelines, were presented as an effort to bring Japan into line with the framework of regulations in other markets, including the United States. At least five recommendations in the advisory report benefited the 787. Four mentioned support for the Dreamliner directly.

Three of the rule changes dealt with abbreviated testing and approval of pilots who had been cleared to fly the Boeing 777 and were preparing to switch to the 787. "It (787) is highly innovative and its safety is also advanced, but it's also very similar in design to the 777," said Kinya Fujiishi, an aviation journalist who sat on the panel. "This is why we thought it would be fine to revise the rule."

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Freezing rain bringing 'very slippery, tricky driving conditions'

Weather on the 1s

Staff report

12:01 p.m. CST, January 27, 2013

The National Weather Service has issued a freezing rain advisory for northeast Illinois that warns of an ice storm that is expected to last until 9 p.m. this evening.

According to the agency, the region will be hit with freezing rain, possibly mixed with sleet, that will turn to rain as the temperatures rise above freezing in later afternoon or early evening. The agency warns of ice accumulation, up to a tenth-of-an-inch or two, making travel hazardous and possibly leading to downed tree limbs and power lines.

Because the ground is below freezing, the precipitation will freeze on contact, the agency said, leaving sidewalks as well as streets with that potentially dangerous coating of ice.

The state’s transportation agency has 360 trucks in the northeastern part of Illinois ready to salt roads as soon as precipitation hits the area, said Mike Claffey, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

IDOT will be monitoring weather conditions, but roads will likely be slick this afternoon when the ice storm arrives, Claffey said. He also cautioned drivers to stay off the roads.

"It’s going to be very slippery, tricky driving conditions," Claffey said. "If you don't have to be out, you should not be."

Jennifer Delgado contributed.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com

Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking

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Japan to start 4K TV broadcast in July 2014: report

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japanese government is set to launch the world's first 4K TV broadcast in July 2014, roughly two years ahead of schedule, to help stir demand for ultra high-definition televisions, the Asahi newspaper reported on Sunday without citing sources.

The service will begin from communications satellites, followed by satellite broadcasting and ground digital broadcasting, the report said.

The 4K TVs, which boast four times the resolution of current high-definition TVs, are now on sale by Japanese makers including Sony Corp , Panasonic and Sharp Corp . Other manufacturers include South Korea's LG Electronics .

Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications had aimed to kick-start the 4K TV service in 2016. That has been brought forward to July 2014, when the final match of the 2014 football World Cup is set to take place in Brazil, the Asahi report said.

In Japan, the development of super high-definition 8K TVs is in progress, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications plans to launch the test 8K TV broadcast in 2016, two years ahead of schedule, it said.

(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Paul Tait)

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Djokovic completes Australian Open hat trick

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — No shirt ripping or bare-chested flexing this time.

Novak Djokovic completed his work before midnight, defeating Andy Murray in four sets for his third consecutive Australian Open title and fourth overall.

It was also the second time in three years Djokovic had beaten his longtime friend in this final. So the celebration was muted: a small victory shuffle, raised arms, a kiss for the trophy. No grand histrionics, although that's not to say the moment was lost on him.

"Winning it three in a row, it's incredible," Djokovic said after his 6-7 (2), 7-6 (3), 6-3, 6-2 victory Sunday night. "It's very thrilling. I'm full of joy right now. It's going to give me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season, that's for sure."

Nine other men had won consecutive Australian titles in the Open era, but none three straight years. One of them was Andre Agassi, who presented Djokovic with the trophy.

A year ago, Djokovic began his season with an epic 5-hour, 53-minute five-set win over Rafael Nadal at the Australian Open, the longest Grand Slam final. He tore off his shirt to celebrate, the TV replays repeated constantly at this tournament.

He mimicked that celebration after coming back to beat Stanislas Wawrinka in five hours in a surprisingly tough fourth-round victory this time.

Since then, he's looked every bit the No. 1 player. He said he played "perfectly" in his 89-minute win over fourth-seeded David Ferrer in the semifinals Thursday night. Murray struggled to beat 17-time major winner Roger Federer in five sets in the semifinals Friday night, and still had the bad blisters on his feet to show for it in the final.

In a final that had the makings of a classic when two of the best returners in tennis were unable to get a break of serve in the first two sets that lasted 2:13, the difference may have hinged on something as light as a feather.

Preparing for a second serve at 2-2 in the second set tiebreaker, Murray was rocking back about to toss the ball when he stopped, paused and then walked onto the court and tried to grab a small white feather that was floating in his view. He went back to the baseline, bounced the ball another eight times and served too long.

After being called for a double-fault, Murray knocked the ball away in anger and flung his arm down. He didn't get close for the rest of the tiebreaker and was the first to drop serve in the match — in the eighth game of the third set. Djokovic broke him twice in the fourth set, which by then had turned into an easy march to victory.

"It was strange," said Djokovic, adding that it swung the momentum his way. "It obviously did. ... He made a crucial double-fault."

Murray didn't blame his loss on the one distraction.

"I mean, I could have served. It just caught my eye before I served. I thought it was a good idea to move it," he said. "Maybe it wasn't because I obviously double-faulted.

"You know, at this level it can come down to just a few points here or there. My biggest chance was at the beginning of the second set — didn't quite get it. When Novak had his chance at the end of the third, he got his."

Djokovic had five break-point chances in the opening set, including four after having Murray at 0-40 in the seventh game, but wasn't able to convert any of them.

Then he surrendered the tiebreaker with six unforced errors. Murray appeared to be the stronger of the two at the time. He'd beaten Djokovic in their last Grand Slam encounter, the U.S. Open final, and had the Serb so off balance at times in the first set that he slipped to the court and took skin off his knee.

Murray held serve to open the second set and had three break points at 0-40 in the second game, but Djokovic dug himself out of trouble and held.

"After that I felt just mentally a little bit lighter and more confident on the court than I've done in the first hour or so," Djokovic said. "I was serving better against him today in the first two sets than I've done in any of the match in the last two years."

Djokovic said he loves playing at Rod Laver Arena, where he won his first major title in 2008. He now has six Grand Slam titles altogether. Federer has won four of his 17 majors at Melbourne Park, and Agassi is the only other player to have won that many in Australia since 1968.

Djokovic was just finding his way at the top level when Agassi retired in 2006, but he had watched enough of the eight-time major winner to appreciate his impact.

"He's I think one of the players that changed the game — not just the game itself, but also the way the people see it," Djokovic said. "So it was obviously a big pleasure and honor for me to receive the trophy from him."

Agassi was among the VIPs in the crowd, along with actor Kevin Spacey and Victoria Azarenka, who won the women's final in three sets against Li Na the previous night.

Murray broke the 76-year drought for British men at the majors when he won the U.S. Open last year and said he'll leave Melbourne slightly more upbeat than he has after defeats here in previous years.

"The last few months have been the best tennis of my life. I mean, I made Wimbledon final, won the Olympics, won the U.S. Open. You know, I was close here as well," he said. "No one's ever won a slam (immediately) after winning their first one. It's not the easiest thing to do. And I got extremely close.

"So, you know, I have to try and look at the positives of the last few months, and I think I'm going the right direction."

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CDC: Flu seems to level off except in the West

New government figures show that flu cases seem to be leveling off nationwide. Flu activity is declining in most regions although still rising in the West.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says hospitalizations and deaths spiked again last week, especially among the elderly. The CDC says quick treatment with antiviral medicines is important, in particular for the very young or old. The season's first flu case resistant to treatment with Tamiflu was reported Friday.

Eight more children have died from the flu, bringing this season's total pediatric deaths to 37. About 100 children die in an average flu season.

There is still vaccine available although it may be hard to find. The CDC has a website that can help.

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CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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Guild gold: Actors gather for SAG's big night

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A puzzling Academy Awards season will sort itself out a bit more on Sunday with the Screen Actors Guild Awards, where top performers gather to honor their own in what often is a prelude for who'll go home with an Oscar.

Among nominees for the 19th annual guild awards are Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones for the Civil War epic "Lincoln"; Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway for the Victor Hugo musical adaptation "Les Miserables"; and Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Oscar recipient Robert De Niro for the oddball romance "Silver Linings Playbook."

De Niro and Jones are in an exclusive supporting-actors group where all five nominees are past Oscar winners. The others are Alan Arkin for the Iran hostage-crisis thriller "Argo," Javier Bardem for the James Bond adventure "Skyfall" and Philip Seymour Hoffman for the cult drama "The Master."

Honors from the actors union, next weekend's Directors Guild of America Awards and Saturday night's Producers Guild of America Awards — whose top honor went to "Argo" — typically help to establish clear favorites for the Oscars.

But Oscar night on Feb. 24 looks more uncertain this time after some top directing prospects, including Ben Affleck for "Argo" and Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty," missed out on nominations. Both films were nominated for best picture, but a movie rarely wins the top Oscar if its director is not also in the running.

Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln" would seem the Oscar favorite with 12 nominations. Yet "Argo" and Affleck were surprise best-drama and director winners at the Golden Globes, and then there's Saturday's Producers Guild win for "Argo," leaving the Oscar race looking like anybody's guess.

The Screen Actors Guild honors at least should help to establish solid front-runners for the stars. All four of the guild's individual acting winners often go on to receive the same prizes at the Academy Awards.

Last year, the guild went just three-for-four — with lead actor Jean Dujardin of "The Artist" and supporting players Octavia Spencer of "The Help" and Christopher Plummer of "Beginners" also taking home Oscars. The guild's lead-actress winner, Viola Davis of "The Help," missed out on the Oscar, which went to Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady."

The guild also presents an award for overall cast performance, its equivalent of a best-picture honor. The nominees are "Argo," ''The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," ''Les Miserables," ''Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook."

Yet the cast prize has a spotty record at predicting the eventual best-picture recipient at the Oscars. Only eight of 17 times since the guild added the category has the cast winner gone on to take the best-picture Oscar. "The Help" won the guild's cast prize last year, while Oscar voters named "The Artist" as best picture.

Such past guild cast winners as "The Birdcage," ''Gosford Park" and "Inglourious Basterds" also failed to take the top Oscar.

Airing live on TNT and TBS, the show features nine television categories, as well.

The SAG ceremony also includes awards for film and TV stunt ensemble. The film stunt nominees are "The Amazing Spider-Man," ''The Bourne Legacy," ''The Dark Knight Rises," ''Les Miserables" and "Skyfall."

Receiving the guild's life-achievement award is Dick Van Dyke, who presented the same prize last year to his "The Dick Van Dyke Show" co-star, Mary Tyler Moore. Van Dyke's award will be presented by his 1960s sitcom's creator and co-star, Carl Reiner, and Alec Baldwin.

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Online:

http://www.sagawards.com

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Pitching Chicago to China

World Business Chicago Vice Chairman Michael Sacks and former Commerce Secretary William Daley leave Sunday on a six-day business mission to China, Sacks' first official foreign trip as a top adviser to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Sacks said that he and Daley will pay their own way to China while World Business Chicago, a nonprofit that acts as the city's economic development agency, will cover the travel costs for two staff members, including one from the mayor's office.

Sacks and Daley will visit Hong Kong and Beijing before joining up with Choose Chicago CEO Don Welsh and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Shanghai.

There, they'll take in a CSO concert and co-host a reception for about 75 people, including tour operators, and China-based alumni of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business.

Sacks said he asked for Daley's help in selling Chicago to foreign officials, specifically the Chinese, after the former chief of staff to President Barack Obama returned home from Washington last year. Sacks said that was months before Daley said he was considering a run for governor in 2014.

"His gravitas, his stature as former commerce secretary and former chief of staff have made the quality of this trip better than anything I could have done myself," Sacks said. "I would not have been able to secure these meetings without him."

Daley and Sacks are expected to meet with 30-plus corporate executives, including the CEO of Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific and billionaire Chinese entrepreneur Lu Guanqiu, whose son-in-law, Pin Ni, runs Elgin-based auto parts maker Wanxiang America Corp.; six Chinese officials, including the acting mayor of Beijing and China's commerce minister, Chen Deming; and U.S. Ambassador to China Gary Locke.

Sacks' role with World Business Chicago is a volunteer position. His day job is CEO of Grosvenor Capital Management. The investment firm is known as a hedge fund of funds because its primary business is to invest in multiple hedge funds on behalf of large investors, such as pension funds, corporations and sovereign wealth funds.

Sacks frequently travels abroad for his work, often adding city-related sales pitches to his itineraries. This, however, is his first foreign trip focused on his work at World Business Chicago.

Spertus changes name

The Spertus Institute this week will tweak its name — and with it, its identity — as part of an ongoing effort to recover from an unfortunately timed decision to open a new building on the eve of the financial crisis.

The institute, which has been a pillar of Jewish culture in Chicago since 1924, will now be called the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. The institute also announced that its programming for children and families will be cut for the foreseeable future in favor of new academic offerings for people working at nonprofits.

"During the past 31/2 years, we eliminated a $3.8 million operating deficit, largely by dramatically reducing our programmatic footprint," said Hal Lewis, the institute's president, who took over in July 2009. "So I didn't have the money to go and get branding assistance. But I was convinced we had a branding challenge — because when I first became president I spent a good solid four months on a listening tour, in which people told me, 'Oh, yeah, I know something about Spertus,' but there was uncertainty about the work we did."

A grant from the Harvey L. Miller Foundation paid for most of the rebranding effort, which an outside consulting firm led.

"I should say I'm generally skeptical of consultants," Lewis said. "But they taught me something elegantly simple: Spend more time talking about the why and less time on the how. We know the enormous array of programs we offer ... but we never said why that's important. ... (The answer is) we believe that a learning Jewish community is a vibrant Jewish community. It is the historic experience of the Jewish people that learning doesn't stop at adolescence."

The institute has about 400 students in degree and certificate programs, from a one-day certificate in grant writing to a doctorate in Jewish studies, which can take up to 10 years to complete. The institute also offers public lectures on politics, arts and culture as well as museum-style exhibits.

Spertus plans to offer new leadership concentrations within its master's degree programs aimed at youth workers, camp counselors and early childhood teachers. It also plans to create programs in social entrepreneurship and lay-leader training. Lewis said also he may eliminate one of Spertus' existing education degrees, but these changes are not final and will not be announced until the spring.

"We were never best at early childhood education," Lewis said. "The synagogues are far better at that ... So this is not a retreat from one of our historic strong suits."

The seeds of the long-running overhaul of Spertus can be traced to the November 2007 opening of its building, an iconic glass sculpture at 610 S. Michigan Ave.

Lewis said so many assumptions about the building failed to materialize, such as revenue from room rentals. Nonprofits also heavily cut professional development funds during the recession, which, in turn, lowered enrollment because students were no longer able to get help paying for their master's degrees.

However, rentals and other economic indicators are beginning to reverse. The falling stock market hurt Spertus' program endowment, slicing it to about $6 million, and its building endowment to about $12 million. Those funds are now at about $7 million and about $17 million, respectively, Lewis said.

Steven Nasatir, president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, said his organization is assisting Spertus with fundraising. He said without the branding and other program changes Lewis is making, Spertus would be "treading water."

"The name change is a manifestation of resetting goals and is a positive thing," he said. "People have to better understand what you're attempting to do."

Melissa Harris can be reached at mmharris@tribune.com or 312-222-4582.

Twitter @chiconfidential

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Fire 'rekindles' at Bridgeport warehouse

A vacant warehouse in Bridgeport continues to burn.

Staff report

10:50 a.m. CST, January 26, 2013

A nearly 100-year-old Bridgeport warehouse is on fire again this morning after it was gutted during a 5-alarm fire on Tuesday, according to the Chicago Fire Department.

About 10 a.m., a tower ladder truck was sent to the scene to handle the rekindle at the ruins, according to the fire department.

Last night, as crews began demolishing the warehouse at 3757 S. Ashland Ave., the fire department officially released its conclusion as to how it began.

"In layman's terms, that means something that was burning such as a flame or match got near something that would burn," Langford said.

Langford said the building had no gas or electric service and no one was known to be living there. But the night of the blaze, Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago told reporters that in the past, firefighters had been called to the warehouse for small fires caused when squatters lit fires to stay warm.

The matter has been forwarded to the Chicago Police Bomb and Arson unit to determine if the fire involved foul play, Langford and police said.

Friday morning, a private wrecking company hired by the owners of the building began its demolition, Chicago Fire Department spokeswoman Meg Ahlheim said.

Tuesday night, a fire department battalion chief spotted smoke from the blaze as he drove past around 9 p.m. A third of the department's on-duty personnel were called to fight a fire fed by century-old support timbers. Crews have remained there since, dousing flames from the smouldering debris.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com

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