A fire roared through Chicago's southwest side in the early morning hours of Nov. 15, burning down HICO Group's two-story, 55,000-sq.-ft. factory. The inferno started from a car-fire adjacent to a rag factory, which was next to the HICO building.

The company felt fortunate that only its smaller, older warehouse was lost, while its main facility in the area, a five-story, 300,000-sq.-ft. warehouse with offices, was left untouched, suffering only the loss of power and phone lines for several days, according to Ken Fey, vice president.