NORTHWEST SIDE FIRE

Sometimes, the real news isn't what you think.

Just over a week ago, I had gone up to the Six Corners neighborhood to visit City Newsstand to buy a British hi-fi magazine. After that, I headed across Cicero to the Jewel Food Store to pick up some sushi when I stopped and looked up -- and saw a huge plume of black smoke rising from behind the store.

The real news to me wasn't the fire. It was how people responded to the fire.

A woman standing next to me already had her cellphone out and was calling 911. At first, we thought the supermarket was on fire, but it turned out the fire was at Chicago Imports Inc., 4150 N. Knox Ave.

I figured I'd better get that sushi quick, but when I went inside the store, I decided that what I really should do is buy some extra film (I only had my analog camera with me and it was out of film), so I bought four 35mm cassettes of Fujicolor and just as I reached the exit, the lights began flickering. The automatic door stopped working, so I pushed it open and then walked behind the store, where about 50 people already had assembled in an empty lot to watch the fire.

The people had their cellphones out and were talking to friends about the fire, texting information about the fire, and transmitting still photos and video. The result: Within just 15 or 20 minutes, the crowd had swollen to several hundred.

Sidewalks filled with gawkers, streets clogged with cars -- and people were getting dangerously close to the fire in their efforts to obtain dramatic photos and videos.

From where I stood, the warehouse was a block away and across some train tracks, you could feel the heat.

There really wasn't all that much coverage of the fire. I wasn't surprised that after a brief visual flurry, the story dropped off the big media radar.

However, I had expected a lot more attention from the local weeklies. But not even those papers gave it much attention.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA COVERAGE

Chicago Tribune (Note that the Tribune's automatic categorization function has incorrectly filed this story in the sports department site folder, apparently because it thinks the subject matter relates to the Chicago Fire, our professional soccer team.)

Chicago Sun-Times/Pioneer Press

CITIZEN JOURNALISTS

Still photos -- From Flickr

Video -- Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4, Video 5, Video 6, Video 7, Video 8.

By the way, this wasn't the only fire over the weekend. My colleague Matt got a photo of another conflagration.

OTHER STUFF

In this podcast I also talk about the coming cicada invasion, how much I enjoy The Mike & Jeff Show, and fill you in on the upcoming Discover Woodfield, a podcast from Lisa & Joe of Cheap Date.

I recorded this podcast in Jefferson Park.

ChicagoScope feedback line: 312-683-5272.