Fire damages Al Bahaar Restaurant in Orland Park

Fire was discovered building inside the restaurant wall. Major damage averted, and no one was injured

Orland Park, IL — The Orland Fire Protection District (OFPD) responded to a fire at the Al Bahaar Restaurant, 39 Orland Square Dr., on Monday evening, April 22, 2024.

At first, the restaurant owners suspected that the alarm was triggered by a malfunction, but as firefighters inspected the restaurant to reset the fire alarm, they detected a burning smell.

“What we found was a fire that was inside the wall of the restaurant,” said Fire Chief Michael Schofield.

“The danger of a fire inside a wall is that it climbs up inside the wall above the sprinkler system and can do far more damage.”

Firefighters inspect the Al Bahaar Restaurant, 39 Orland Square Dr., after extinguishing a fire that was inside the wall of the building and not obviously seen. Photo courtesy of the Orland Fire Protection District

The fire response was then upgraded bringing in additional resources from Orland Fire, Palos Heights, Palos Park, Tinley Park and other surrounding Fire Districts and Departments.

Firefighters moved quickly to open the wall exposing heavy smoke and flames which were rapidly extinguished, preventing the fire from spreading further and causing more damage.

“The diligence of the initial fire company should be commended, given that their actions saved a potential total loss by locating a hidden fire within a wall that could have spread to the unprotected attic area and destroyed this building or caused harm to patrons and employees,” Schofield said.

No one was injured.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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