The Chicago Tribune has an article about a house fire in LaGrange which resulted in multiple fatalities:
A man and a woman died in a three-alarm house fire in southwest suburban La Grange early [Saturday] morning, officials said.
The village’s Fire Department received several 911 calls just after 1:30 a.m. about a fire at a house in the 900 block of South Kensington Avenue, Fire Chief William J. Bryzgalski said.
A man in his 90s and a woman whose age has not been released were taken from the home to Adventist La Grange Memorial Hospital, officials said. The man was pronounced dead at 3:32 a.m., and the woman – whom Bryzgalski described as elderly — was pronounced dead at 5:18 a.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
The complete article can be found HERE.
#1 by fire guy on December 14, 2012 - 2:16 AM
all due respect anybody that was not at this fire has no room to talk. I did used to work in this division and I agree that a lot of departments up the alarm right away. I just have to say that in this divison most departments do not have the manpower that is needed initally. I was not at this fire but if a 3-11 was called it may have been needed due to companies not being availible. I know the department I work for was called to this fire, but I have no comment on that due to the fact I was not on that company… All I have to say is anybody that was not at this fire and even people that were there have no room to say anything….command made the decision to up the alarm and they did it…so leave it alone…..and personally you guys need to lay off of tristate it’s their department and they want their members saying all belted because ultimaltly it’s the officer’s ass on the line if they were to get in an accident. If you have a problem with them saying all belted on every call you need to start getting a life and stop listening to your scanner 24/7
#2 by Dennis on December 13, 2012 - 9:06 PM
100% agree Mike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#3 by Mike on December 13, 2012 - 8:55 PM
Was not there but heard much on the initial radio traffic. Sounded like some of their auto aid and full still companies were unavailable to respond which can make getting manpower to the scene quickly difficult. Heavy fire w/ victims is hectic no matter who you are. IC made calls with what he had to deal with. All respect to you guys but I hate looking at these posts, no matter what feed its for, and see people who were not even there arm chair quarterback this department and the division. I agree that these events need to be critiqued, but not on a website on a comment feed. Leave that to the departments that were involved. Then it can be passed on to all others, not just after reading a trib article online. (not the same Mike from earlier in the post)
#4 by FFPM571 on December 13, 2012 - 2:41 PM
Division 10 sure has it down for safety. They have a RIT team for the RIT team’s RIT team and a Chief for every sector and that sectors sector. Even the command van has a command van.
#5 by Martin on December 13, 2012 - 1:58 PM
I can only think of one over kill for MABAS 10, thats all.
#6 by Mark Sawicki on December 13, 2012 - 5:37 AM
What is an “All Belted Ranger”?
#7 by FF's Friend on December 12, 2012 - 9:04 PM
I was not at this fire neither. But according to the Chicago Tribune, the homeowner of the neighboring house “said his home sustained minor smoke damage inside, as well as some damage to its siding and roof. He commended firefighters for preventing the fire from doing more damage to his home.” It was also reported that “his wife took their 10-year-old son and 8-year-old twin girls to a friend’s house while he stayed on the street to keep an eye on their house and help alert other neighbors.” I’m going to say that this tragic fire could possibly have been much worse, had it not been for all the resources that responded. I, for one, am just glad it was not much worse.
#8 by Mike on December 11, 2012 - 4:56 PM
John C, you are absolutely right !!! division 10 IMAT response is getting out of hand. The ” All Belted Rangers “Tri State, are the worst offenders. Every fire they have is a 2-11.
#9 by Dennis on December 10, 2012 - 10:41 PM
JohnC….you still have not answered either of my questions.
#10 by Brian on December 10, 2012 - 8:53 PM
Is it possible that with the rescues that extra manpower was brought in due to this? While it is easy to criticize from afar, the IC had a reason for going to a 3-11.
#11 by John C on December 10, 2012 - 8:26 PM
Damn you’re easy to get a reaction out of! Thanks for making our night. Anyway, to your “points”.
Now, obviously, departments have different staffing levels and levels of fire experience. And (this isn’t the departments’ fault, obviously), MABAS 10 doesn’t have the most fire experience ever. But…something makes you think when a department needs:
9 engines
4 trucks
2 squads
5 ambos
9 chief officers
special companies
To work moderate fire in 1 floor of a 2-story structure with no exposure problems.
#12 by Dennis on December 10, 2012 - 6:51 PM
Also can you give the standards that MABAS Division 10 uses to determine what qualifies a Full Still, a Box alarm, a 2nd alarm, a 3rd alarm, a 4th alarm, and a 5th alarm. Assuming that division 10 uses those alarm levels. Based on your comment “even by MABAS 10’s standards that wasn’t a 3-11” that means this is the only division that I know of that actually has an SOP stating that in order to call a 2nd alarm, etc. the IC must have this, this, and this in the incident. Sounds like MABAS 10 is far more ahead in the field of incident command then any other department in the country…….according to JohnC.
#13 by Dennis on December 10, 2012 - 6:45 PM
@John C…..let me respond first by saying that I might ask questions as to why a certain action was taken. The thought behind it though is that I was rasied to NEVER critique anything unless I was present at the incident, and in the fire service as we know it, critiquing an incident should be done all the time, everytime requardless of the scale of the incident. Now I’m still waiting for you to give insight on why the IC requested the 3rd alarm given that you said numerous members gave you their reflections based on being there. I also would like to know why you would say that “I REALLY shake my head at the amount of resources that division wastes, especially with their IMAT crap.” what is it that the division wastes and what is “IMAT”?
#14 by John C on December 10, 2012 - 5:47 PM
Actually, as I’ve said before in my comments, I’m in MABAS 10 and actually on one of the departments due to LG on the Full Still. And my comments reflect what I was told by NUMEROUS members (from not only my department) who were on scene of that fire.
And if you’re saying you never critiqued ANYTHING without physically being present, you’re lying.
#15 by Dennis on December 10, 2012 - 5:09 PM
@John C…….I take it you’re a fireman for one of the departments that responded to this fire and can give a good first hand account of what the conditions were like inside and outside of the fire building, and you must be a chief officer and can give further insight as to what the tactical plan was in fighting this fire and dealing with the reports of people inside the building. I really look forward to your response.
#16 by John C on December 10, 2012 - 4:51 PM
Drove past the house earlier….surprised….even by MABAS 10’s standards that wasn’t a 3-11. I REALLY shake my head at the amount of resources that division wastes, especially with their IMAT crap.