Chicago Still & Box Alarm, 12-31-13

This from Eric Haak:

Here are some photographs of a Still & Box Alarm fire on the 6600 Block of South Oakley in Chicago. This still went out at 0936 hrs and was boxed for the report of people trapped inside. Engine 101 confirmed a fire in the basement of a one-story single-family residence. An elderly woman was removed from the home but I do not know if it was fire department personnel or civilians who carried her out. She was transported to the hospital and was alert on the scene. It took me ten minutes to get on-scene from the time the fire was dispatched, to give you a time frame. I included an image of Engine 123 with the memorial decal to Captain Johnson affixed below the driver’s side windshield.

Chicago firemen battle smokey house fire at year's end

Eric Haak photo

Tags: Chicago Fire Captain Herbert 'Herbie' Johnson memorial, Chicago Fire Department, Chicago fire engine at fire scene, chief fire officer at fire scene, closeup of Chicago fireman, Eric Haak, firefighters on peak roof with smoke, firemen on roof with smoke, portrait of seasoned firefighter, white smoke at fire scene, winter fire scene photos

This entry was posted on December 31, 2013, 6:57 PM and is filed under Apparatus on-scene, Fire Scene photos, Fire Truck photos. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

15 Comments

#1 by Drew on January 1, 2014 - 5:26 PM

Well said Eric, nice shots!
#2 by Robert on January 1, 2014 - 5:01 PM

Jim, are you the fire buff out of Evergreen Park?
#3 by Eric Haak on January 1, 2014 - 3:13 PM

Just an FYI, the firefighter whose helmet is barely seen through the smoke was wearing his SCBA, along with three others who were making entry through a side door at that location. I am not looking in any way to get any one in trouble by posting pictures. In fact, one of the reasons that I had not posted many pictures in the past is because I did not want to get any one in trouble. As a photographer, you catch things in the moment and not always the entire story. A guy may remove his helmet to re-adjust it for just a second and you may capture a great shot in that moment. If you post that picture, you will get people pointing out that he does not have his helmet on. I originally wanted to avoid all of that. As for the image of the firefighter venting the roof, it was only posted because it was my understanding that he was not breaking any rules, as Dennis stated.
#4 by Dennis on January 1, 2014 - 2:23 PM

@Jim in Chicago our SOP’s/General Orders state that whomever is doing the roof work is not required to wear a SCBA…so again ask where in these pictures is someone not wearing a SCBA when their required to. Just because your department does doesn’t mean another has to also.
#5 by Jim on January 1, 2014 - 2:07 PM

Dennis,

The firefighter on the roof is not wearing a SCBA. I like the safety susie comment. That’s the problem with the fire service today. We know the contents that are burning have changed and cause cancer but we think it is ok to ignore it. File a workmans comp claim or take a disability pension later.
#6 by Dennis on January 1, 2014 - 1:43 PM

@Safety Susie where do you see a guy not using his SCBA when he us supposed to in these pictures? NFPA are GUIDELINES ONLY!!!…There not LAWS…you don’t have to follow them. If one department choses to follow every NFPA rule then let them just the same if one department choses to follow only certain ones then so be it. The fact of mostly everything in the fire service is money..pure and simple..very rarely is anything done for ” the best interest of the men”.
#7 by David on January 1, 2014 - 12:54 PM

@NYFF: I’m not a FF myself so there are probably some guys here who would answer the question better than me, but just from what I’ve heard the Ben Franklin 2 helmets weren’t so popular as they were very bulky and sat too high on the head. As to the design side of the thing my opinion is that the 880 is the best stuff you can get, light, low, I feel almost like doing some Cairns advertising here now.
#8 by NYFF on January 1, 2014 - 9:12 AM

Sorry guys, not picking on the Chicago Brothers. I enjoy looking at this site and other CFD photo sites, always great. I am a helmet buff too, don’t agree with the nfpa police on the 10-yr lifespan…. Did CFD not like the MP Ben II they issued for a few years? I know they went back to the new Cairns/Msa 880 “chicago”.
#9 by David on January 1, 2014 - 6:26 AM

@NYFF: You must be kidding, this is a 1981 880, whats outdated?!
#10 by Drew Smith on January 1, 2014 - 12:12 AM

I’m curious how one can tell the age of a helmet from a photo? I usually have to look inside the suspension.
#11 by 0.02 on December 31, 2013 - 10:09 PM

More important things to worry about like Chicago fire.
#12 by Safety Susie on December 31, 2013 - 10:00 PM

It’s the Chicago way. 20-30 year old spares, finally going to bunker gear in 2005, not enforcing scba use, I’m sure you get the point.
#13 by NYFF on December 31, 2013 - 9:06 PM

Just wondering, how do guys wear such old outdated helmets? Here in NY we have been hit with the new nfpa 10-year helmet replacement rule……
#14 by Robert on December 31, 2013 - 9:00 PM

Great photos!
#15 by Bill Post on December 31, 2013 - 8:57 PM

There no question that Engine 101’s station has been getting it’s share of working fires as of late. According to the run survey that was conducted by Fire House Magazine and published this past summer, Engine 101 and Truck 41 was in the busiest station in the city for 2012. Of course another contributing factor is the fact the there are 2 ambulances (58 and 94) that share the house with the Engine and Truck. No matter it still is a very busy house and Truck 41 is an ALS company as well.