High-rise evacuation planning pays off 900 safely leave Schaumburg building as fire burns on roof.(News)

Byline: Cass Cliatt Daily Herald Staff Writer

Something in their co-workers' voices Friday told employees at Schaumburg's IBM building they weren't having just another fire drill.

As a black cloud of smoke billowed across the sky at 9 a.m., a blaze atop the high-rise at 231 N. Martingale Road forced a mass evacuation that sent up to 900 workers out into the cold.

An electrical short in a rooftop heating unit sparked the fire, officials said. No one was injured, thanks largely to a Schaumburg evacuation training program that has gained in popularity since the Sept. 11 tragedy.

Employees of International Business Machines Corp. and AT&T Corp., which share space in the 11-story building, began an orderly evacuation as soon as they saw smoke …