ARSON ON ARGYLE? With Photos...

CHICAGO - EXCLUSIVE - THE BENCH learned at 2:30 a.m. that arson is suspected in a suspicious fire ravaged four businesses early this morning in Chicago's "Little Chinatown" in the northern Uptown neighborhood. The blaze started around 1:00 a.m. in the 1100 block of W. Argyle Street, adjacent to the Argyle CTA Red Line Station. The fire was under control by 2:00 a.m. The station was not damaged. No injuries were reported. At 1:15 this afternoon, several fire trucks came to the already busy scene because some of the rubble was still hot. A pump unit sprayed water into the gaping hole of what had been the roof of the Mien Hoa grocery store. ARSON? At approximately 2:30 a.m., the 20th District police dispatcher told units that a 911 call said somebody was seen running away from the scene with a gasoline can. (Studies have shown that very few people run away from blazing restaurants at 2:00 in the morning while holding a gasoline can, even in Uptown.) The destroyed businesses are: - Pride Home Realty and Globeserve Financial Services, Inc. (formerly CFIC Home Mortgage) - Vinh Tho Grocery Store - Mien Hoa Inc., grocery - Tien Giang Restaurant, Vietnamese & Chinese Lucky Enterprises and Kim Tam, immediately east of the fire, jeweler, appeared to be undamaged. EVACUATE? At approximately 1:45 a.m., police and fire officials debated whether or not to evacuate the large apartment building behind the four burning, single-story businesses. They decided not to evacuate, judging the fire under control (see more on this below). EXTREMELY INTENSE - The fire was, from observation, extremely intense. The Bench walked around the block and found chunks of burned wood, some over 1.5 inches square, on the sidewalk and in the street one block away from the actual fire, indicating a high thermal updraft that carried debris upwards to drift away. RELATED: Fire Guts Restaurant, Stores In Little Vietnam - CBS2 Chicago Fire controlled in Uptown building - Chicago Sun-Times Extra-alarm blaze in Uptown - Chicago Tribune Uptown Blaze Destroys Building - NBC5 Chicago 48th Ward Alderman Mary Ann Smith