But the landlord told the Sun-Times he is being falsely accused. Carlson claimed a witness saw the brewery burning before the fire spread to all four floors of his apartment building.

“It’s all about a landlord being guilty until they prove themselves innocent, right?” Carlson said. “As a landlord in the city of Chicago, guilty until you prove yourself innocent instead of the opposite way around. Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

Carlson said he got a message from the daughter of a tenant saying “she saw the Hippo, Hippo whatever it is, burning. And then the fire spread to my building, not the other way around. That’s it.”

He added that the brewery “had the highly flammable materials in there. I don’t blame anybody. But why are they blaming me?”

    • Deadend [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      3 years ago

      Those were mostly contained to the brewery.

      Brewery was one of the only places that was trying to do a regular salary for staff, no tip expected because waitstaff were full time on an hourly wage and had medical coverage. The gym that burned down also wasn't a GYTM gym, it was an obstacle course area for kids and adults.

        • Deadend [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          3 years ago

          They were both pretty good.

          I had a couple of friends who heard the nitrogen tanks go up, and another that only noticed the helicopters for the news coverage.

          Basically the brewing gear, and the tanks under heat and pressure basically a potential bomb. The fire department was trying to keep the fire from igniting but failed to.