Antioch Hot Dog Restaurant Temporarily Closes After Fire

By Sam Borcia, Lake & McHenry County Scanner

A popular hot dog restaurant is temporarily closed after a fire damaged the business and left it unoccupiable in Antioch Saturday evening, fire officials said.

The Antioch Fire Department responded around 5:20 p.m. Saturday to Old Chicago Red Hots, 573 Route 173 in Antioch, for a report of a structure fire.

Antioch Fire Department Battalion Chief Ryan Keefe said firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from the roof of a single-story restaurant.

The Fox Lake, Lake Villa, Newport and Salem fire departments responded to assist in extinguishing the fire.

Firefighters worked for approximately two hours on the scene, Keefe said.

They extinguished the fire and conducted overhaul operations to extinguish hidden fires.

No occupants or firefighters were injured in the fire, which shut down Route 173.

The restaurant is unoccupiable, Keefe said. The Antioch Building and Code Enforcement Department and Lake County Health Department were requested to the scene.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation by investigators from the Antioch, Newport and Round Lake fire departments.

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