January 20, 2016 – For the second time in the past year, Chicago firefighters have apparently used a building’s voice communication system incorrectly. Last February, residents of Marina City heard no announcements during a small but smoky fire. On Sunday, they heard announcements all right, but were mistakenly told to evacuate.

The cause of the fire this time was a malfunctioning thermostat at about 9 p.m. on Sunday in a unit on the 55th floor of Marina City’s west tower. A spokesperson for Chicago Fire Department described it as “a minor incident” with “very, very, very light smoke.”

Still, hundreds of people on 40 floors, including elderly residents, were told to leave their apartments and walk down Marina City’s steep, narrow, windowless stairs. Once they reached the 20th floor, they would have then had to descend past 19 parking levels.

An “ear splitting” siren blared, strobe lights flashed, and CFD vehicles lined North Dearborn Street on the west side of Marina City. Residents say the stairs were crowded and the evacuation was confusing.

“No one seemed to think it was real and everyone was slow moving down the stairs,” said Alan Foshay, who walked down from the 58th floor. “There were elderly people crying and could hardly get down the stairs.”

Ciara Newby was among residents questioning the need for an evacuation. “If they had said it was a small fire I would have stayed in my apartment. I wondered if it was something more sinister because I couldn’t understand why we would be evacuated for that.”

It was a mistake, the manager of Marina City’s residential property told residents in a memo on Tuesday.

“The fire department inadvertently and unknowingly activated an automated evacuation message,” wrote Shannon Grealy. “They are taking their error very seriously and taking steps for additional training of fire personnel.” (Right) Control panels (at right) for use by firefighters are glimpsed in this 2009 photo of Marina City’s west tower lobby.

Residents see smoke in 2015 but hear no announcements

During the 2015 fire at Marina City, as large amounts of smoke filled their hallways, residents heard no announcements over a new voice communication system. Initially blaming building management, CFD took a closer look and determined that the firefighter who was making announcements did not push “all the correct buttons” and not everyone heard the first announcements.

After that fire, according to Larry Langford, CFD’s director of media affairs, “several crews from several firehouses on all three shifts” were sent to Marina City “to make sure they are all well versed on the operation of the system.”

On Tuesday, before learning of the memo to residents, Langford told Loop North News that CFD “normally would not call for any kind of [evacuation] on a small fire. Even on a major high-rise we would [evacuate] the fire floor and maybe five up and three down if it was a real cooker.”

The fire on February 19, 2015, was in a trash chute. It was extinguished automatically by sprinklers inside the chute.

(Left) What a thermostat at Marina City looks like after it has caught on fire. This assembly was custom-built for heating and air conditioning units at Marina City but at about 2 a.m. on December 21, 2012, a wire and electrical component on the top right side of the assembly started to burn, producing thick smoke. It was quickly extinguished by the resident of this west tower unit. The fire department was not called and the building was not evacuated. The residue on the table at lower right is from a fire extinguisher.