BARTLETT, IL — A warehouse fire that started burning Thursday morning is still being battled by firefighters after storage racks inside the building collapsed and took out the facility’s sprinkler system and fire officials expect the effort to extinguish the blaze to last through the weekend.

The fire was first reported just before 10 a.m. on Thursday at a document storage warehouse located at 1200 Humbracht Circle. The facility, which is being used by the Access Corporation, was filled with boxes of documents that were stacked floor to ceiling when the fire started, Bartlett Fire Protection Chief William Gabrenya said.

No one has been injured but Gabrenya told Patch on Friday morning that a steel rack system that collapsed around 3 p.m. Thursday made the effort to get the fire under control much more difficult.

“You have to remember that these racks are four stories tall just filled completely with boxes filled with paper,” Gabrenya told Patch. “When those things come down, it shakes the whole building.

The chief said that cold temperatures and high winds have also added to the problem but that crews have remained on scene since arriving Thursday morning. He said that winds Thursday night was just blowing streams of water sideways as firefighters experienced an array of challenges.

Gabrenya said fighting the fire has been extremely difficulty and said, "It’s been a rough go over the last 24 hours or so.”

The chief said that firefighters are dealing with equipment freezing and that several engines are in place to allow the firefighters to rotate in and out in battling the blaze. Fire officials said that they believed they had the fire under control at one point Thursday before the steel rack system collapsed.

Gabrenya said that fire officials are working with the owner of the facility to bring in heavy construction equipment to clear debris out of the building to allow firefighters better access. Equipment is expected to arrive sometime Friday but that it will take time to get walls taken down and debris removed to allow firefighters better access to the fire.

The building is a total loss after the crumbling racks caused the roof to collapse and that walls remain unstable, which has forced firefighters to keep their distance from the blaze. As of Friday morning, four trucks were keeping a steady stream of water flowing to fight the fire.

The cause of the fire remains unknown at this time and Gabrenya said that fire and arson investigators are on scene. Gabrenya said that arson has not been ruled out but said that it could be a week before an exact cause is determined.

“It’s a challenging situation,” he said.

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