Tonight at 19:19, the box was struck for 13 S. Morton Ave in Morton for the building fire at Rosario's restaurant. Companies 11, 13, 14, 44 and RIT 8 were on the ticket. Crews arrived to find heavy smoke showing and what appeared to be a basement fire. RIT 8 arrived quickly and immediately got to work with pro active RIT procedures. Doors were forced, ladders raised, bars removed from windows, etc. RIT 8 broke up into two teams, one for side A and a second larger team for side C. Side C team had the best and fastest access to the basement area and were to be the lead team if necessary. RIT 3 was requested to reinforce RIT 8 due to the size and scope of the incident and building. RIT 3's crew directly reinforced the side A team, so we had equal sized crews on both sides of the building.The fire was burning intensely in a vault under the sidewalk attached to the restaurant. As it turns out this was an electrical fire with a gas leak. Crews were able to access the vault from inside the building, but the fire in the vault was let go until PECO could secure both the electric and gas. With those utilities secured, the fire was quickly handled. Crews were in service for about 3 hours. Hats off to 11 command (Morton). Great job.
