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Chicago haz mat 5-1-2 moves to O’Hare

The Chicago Fire Department issued an order today which relocates Haz Mat 5-1-2 from Engine 60’s house to Rescue 1 at O’Hare Airport effective January 13th 2011.

Tags: American LaFrance, Chicago Fire Department, Haz Mat 5-1-2, O'Hare Airport, patch, Rescue Station 1, RescueMaster

This entry was posted on January 7, 2011, 3:34 PM and is filed under Fire Department News, Fire Service News, Patch. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

10 Comments

• #1 by Dennis McGuire Jr. on January 25, 2011 - 9:20 AM

  

  HA HA no!!!!!!!!

• #2 by fireman hank on January 24, 2011 - 11:59 AM

  

  Dennis, did you move to O’Hare with them??????

• #3 by Steve D. on January 22, 2011 - 3:42 PM

  

  I just read on the Public Building Commission website that Engines 16s new firehouse will have some form of Haz-Mat operations, along with EMS Field Division South quartered there.

• #4 by Dennis McGuire Jr. on January 19, 2011 - 8:15 AM

  

  Bill, having been on 5-1-2 roughly 10-15 times a year, I can tell you that out of those 188 runs, they were held up on almost 3/4 of them because Squad 5 or another company was able to handle things. I’m not trying to say that 5-1-2 is not needed. As far as moving them to O’Hare, I’m not sure about the rationale, but I can only assume that the commissioner had a valid reason and is doing so in the city’s best interest. It is assumed that 5-1-1 will eventually move into Engine Co. 16’s new quarters at 39th and Wabash when it is built and they will be central to the city.

  As for the Squad 7, they do carry a little more hazmat equipment (meters, Haz-Mat ID) then the other squads, so I’m not sure how that will effect things. But I can tell you one thing, there is no way that a ‘jump company’ will ever happen in Chicago. The engine companies are there for a reason, the truck companies are there for a reason, and now 5-1-2 is there for a reason.

• #5 by Bill Post on January 18, 2011 - 8:29 PM

  

  I also can’t help but wonder what the reasoning behind the relocation of 5-1-2 to O’Hare Field was? I have a hunch that it may be due to some tightening of the rules by the Department of Homeland Security but that is only a good guess. I know that all of the squads also function as haz mat support companies who assist the dedicated haz mat companies. Considering that Squad 7 is also located as O’Hare Field, and the size of their apparatus, I had thought that they were able to adequately handle most haz mat incidents at O’Hare, at least until the arrival of a dedicated haz mat company from the city. Squad 7 is also the slowest squad company on the CFD.

  The difference in run volume (for 2009) between 5-1-1 (north side haz mat company) and 5-1-2 (south side haz mat company) was only 15 responses. Haz Mat 1 (5-1-1) went out 203 times and Haz Mat 2 (5-1-2) went out 188 times. I really don’t know how many of the runs that 5-1-1 went out on were specifically at O’Hare. If most of those runs were for O’Hare, then I would have suggested a third haz mat unit be put in service at O’Hare, and that Squad 7 or one of the engine companies cross man the haz mat unit so they wouldn’t have to increase the already tight payroll. In other words, it would be what is known as a ‘jump company’. But that’s only an idea.

• #6 by shapington on January 9, 2011 - 6:15 AM

  

  What was the reasoning behind this move, and do any of you guys think they will repaint that rig yellow or the newer command vehicle colors of white with the yellow reflective striping?

• #7 by Bill Post on January 8, 2011 - 9:45 PM

  

  No Nick, this is not a move to make room for Tower Ladder 37. Engine 60’s house has enough room for all of the rigs at the station. It is a large 3 bay station and the Tower Ladder was there before 512 ever went in service.

• #8 by Nick.P on January 8, 2011 - 11:49 AM

  

  Is this move to make room for T37?

• #9 by davis on January 8, 2011 - 12:48 AM

  

  would 5-1-1A also move to O’hare?

• #10 by Chris S. on January 7, 2011 - 6:08 PM

  

  Are there really enough calls @ O’Hare to make this necessary? Most of the calls 5-1-1 had @ O’Hare they got returned.

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