Lake Forest firefighters responded to a reported basement fire Tuesday afternoon at 180 W. Laurel Avenue. The first arriving unit reported nothing showing from the outside, but found smoke upon entering the large house. Within roughly 9 minutes, the alarm was upgraded to a working still alarm, a MABAS Box Alarm, and then a 2nd Alarm as smoke began escaping from the eaves.
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
There was a hydrant at the end of the long, curvy driveway. The first-due Lake Forest engine and the Knollwood quint both made the driveway … with some difficulty. Fire was located in the void space beneath the first floor and then in some walls on the second floor.
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
The alarm was upgraded to a 3rd Alarm for additional companies to standby in the event that the fire got away from the companies working inside. The fire was contained before long without doing extensive damage to the structure of the house. Temperatures were hovering just above 0 with a negative windchill.
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro photo
Larry Shapiro and Tim Olk took it in.
Lake Bluff squad. Larry Shapiro photo
Apparatus lined the narrow street. Larry Shapiro photo
Companies at the scene were:
- Lake Forest with two engines, an ambulance, a tower ladder, and chief officers
- Knollwood with a quint
- Highwood with a quint
- Mundelein with an engine
- Lake Bluff with an engine
- Libertyville with an engine
- Beach Park with an engine
- Highland Park with an engine
- Grayslake with an engine
- Lake Villa with an engine
- Wauconda with an engine
- Round Lake with an engine
- Countryside with a truck and a chief
- Gurnee with a truck
- Great Lakes with a truck
- Fox Lake with a squad
- Lincolnshire with an ambulance, squad and chief
- Northbrook with an ambulance
- Long Grove with an ambulance
- Barrington Countryside with an ambulance
- Quad 2 Mobile Command Post
- Deerfield chief
Beach Park Engine 1222. Larry Shapiro photo
Round Lake Engine 262. Larry Shapiro photo
Great Lakes Truck 1931. Larry Shapiro photo
The complete set of Larry’s images will be posted soon to his site.
#1 by FFEMT on February 7, 2014 - 9:04 PM
Tom, just to put the 46 in perspective….that’s less than Chicago gets on a Still and Box. So, it may sound like a lot to call it a 3rd Alarm…but personnel wise it’s about half way between a Chicago Still and a Still and Box.
#2 by KarlofHP on February 7, 2014 - 12:20 PM
I live in Highland Park, and have previously lived in Lake Forest. The fire departments in both cities are almost entirely rescue oriented; there just aren’t many fires. That said, people who pay $100K/year in property taxes can be pretty demanding when they finally need a city service so if there’s some harmless overkill I think it’s for the best.
#3 by Chuck on January 31, 2014 - 8:46 PM
I apologize for the Monday morning quarterbacking – but I based my comment on the original description of the amount of fire, which didn’t quite match the level of alarm. I will therefore fault the bad commentary, not the tactics….lol
#4 by Tom Foley on January 31, 2014 - 11:48 AM
Yes, it’s quarterbacking, but at just 2 people per vehicle that Chuck listed, not even including the chiefs, there were 46 firefighters on the scene.
I respect the decision and it isn’t mine to make. But it does seem a little excessive and does pull as many resources causing a lot of “jockeying around” of vehicles to provide coverage where resources are pulled from.
But, if that’s what’s truly required to safeguard property, then I suppose it’s a job well done.
#5 by Karl on January 31, 2014 - 9:02 AM
Chuck, As i was part of one of the box alarm companies there working, there was a heavy fire load in the basement which traveled up the walls to the 2nd floor in numerous void spaces. While the initial companies made a great stop with the bulk of the fire, there were alot of hot spots and extension to the upper floors to chase down. Several companies were assigned to the upper floors to work on chasing down those hot spots. The companies were lucky to get a good positive water source at the end of the driveway, considering it was below zero that day. This house was larger than many commercial properties in my still district. The interior walls were all lath & plaster and the floor where we were working on the 2nd floor had 3 layers of various types of wood flooring. So needless to say, quite labor intensive for the companies working. So say what you “think” but the incident commander handled it as he saw fit.
#6 by 0.02 on January 31, 2014 - 8:53 AM
Chuck before you go Monday morning quarterbacking this. The fire was in the attic area and took off before the fire department even got notified. BTW, lake forest and most other departments in that area are just running 2 person companies so nothing gets done till there is enough people there.
#7 by Chuck on January 30, 2014 - 10:18 PM
So, it looks like they held the roof, vented the place without breaking a single pane of glass, put out what, maybe $ 1.50 worth of fire and yet they found it necessary to pull a 3rd alarm? 13 engine companies, 4 trucks, 2 Squads and 4 ambulances for that? Hope the homeowners aren’t getting billed for the responders’ mileage or by the man.