Brush fire forces OfficeMax evacuation

A brush fire Monday afternoon outside Naperville’s OfficeMax headquarters broke 14 windows, caused $20,000 in damage and forced the building to be evacuated.

Deputy Fire Chief Rick Sander said the fire started about 1:40 p.m. in the mulch on the building’s south side and, fanned by high winds, quickly engulfed about 50 bushes.

Sander said employees evacuated the building at 263 Shuman Blvd. along Interstate 88 when windows started breaking from the heat. Employees were allowed back inside about an hour later.

No injuries were reported and the fire was extinguished within 10 minutes. Firefighters remained on the scene for about two hours.

“We stuck around to make sure we had everything wet down real good,” Sander said. “It’s important (to do that) with mulch because you don’t want it smoldering and flaring back up again later.”

Sander said the dry and windy conditions of the past few days are ideal for brush fires.

“When it’s dry and windy like this, you really want to avoid all open flames because it can catch and spread quickly,” he said. “We’d also advise residents not to discard any smoking materials.”

The cause of the fire is undetermined.