South Loop Street Reopens After Hanging Ice Shuts It Down (VIDEO)

CHICAGO, IL — Authorities reopened a part of Wabash Avenue on Monday morning after hanging ice from a fire escape outside a South Loop building had shut it down over the weekend, according to ABC 7 Chicago. The street had been closed to cars and pedestrians between Harrison Street and Balbo Drive on Saturday night over fears of falling ice chunks, the report stated. But emergency crews were able to melt and remove much of it by Monday, the report added.

Chicago Fire Department officials told ABC 7 that the impressive — and potentially hazardous — ice formation at the self-storage building, 615 S. Wabash Ave., was created after an upper-floor sprinkler system broke. Water from the system leaked onto the building's fire escape, and the frigid conditions in Chicago quickly froze it, the report added.

But authorities were concerned that warmer temperatures would begin melting the ice, and those falling pieces could hit someone at street level, the report stated. Along with the falling ice, fire department officials and residents worried the frozen fire escape could endanger people if an actual blaze broke out, the report added.

Emergency crews had considered chipping away at the ice formation, the report stated. Instead, a calcium-chloride compound was applied to melt it, the report added.

More via ABC 7 Chicago

Hanging ice from a South Loop self-storage building shut down a part of Wabash Avenue. (Image via YouTube)