Archive for June 30th, 2014

Working fire in Oak Forest, 6-30-14

This from Kevin Griffin:

Oak forest had a working fire tonight at 15727 Peggy Ln this unit was in fire about 5 weeks ago. 900 reported flames showing from the roof upon arrival.

Lightning is the cause of the fire.

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

Kevin Griffin photo

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Former CFD Battalion Chief Oswald B. Lewis

The Chicago Sun-Times has an article with photos commemorating the life of veteran Chicago Batatlion Chief Oswald B. Lewis who died recently:

Through the Blizzard of ’67, the spectacular blaze that same year that destroyed Chicago’s first McCormick Place, and the 1968 riots that decimated the West Side, Oswald B. Lewis was there.

Mr. Lewis, who rose to the rank of battalion chief with the Chicago Fire Department, worked on Snorkel Squad 3, considered the busiest snorkel squad in the city. The unit, located at Francisco and Fillmore and later at Erie and Western, received about 20 fire calls a day — or nearly 7,000 runs a year.

“It was a crack outfit. They were running their wheels off,” said Kenneth Little, a department historian and retired fire-alarm operator, who added that firefighting improved with the squads’ then-new, flexible snorkels. “Everybody knew this guy was going places.”

Mr. Lewis knew his equipment. He didn’t ask anything of his firefighters that he wouldn’t do himself. He was adept at getting in and out of burning buildings. And he made sure no one was left behind.

“I got turned around in a basement and he came down looking for me and he found me,” retired Fire Lt. Mike Dineen said. “We both worked our way back out of there.”

“He always gave credit to us firefighters,” said Pete Cunningham, a retired deputy district chief. “If you did something worthwhile at a fire, he’d write you up for an award. He was always doing those extra things.”

Mr. Lewis, who joined the department in 1955, was considered an inspiration to young African-American firefighters. And he was a respected leader throughout a department with as many layers of tribal strata — racial, political, social — as its hometown. He died May 21 at Mercy Hospital. He was 89.

One of his toughest times on the department occurred when the West Side went up in flames after the 1968 shooting of civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. In addition to fighting fires, he had to duck homemade missiles lobbed by grief-furious rioters.

“It got to the point we had to be escorted by police,” said Jim Syler, a retired acting battalion chief. “If you drove on the Congress Expressway [now the Eisenhower], they were throwing bricks and rocks on the expressway at cars.”

Chicago’s first African-American firefighter was hired in 1872, said Little, who has co-authored four books on the department. But firehouses were largely segregated until about the mid-1960s, according to Dekalb Walcott Jr., a retired battalion chief who is working on a Chicago African American Firefighters Museum.

Mr. Lewis hit the books hard to ensure promotions, his daughter said. “He didn’t have a patron, he didn’t come from Bridgeport, he wasn’t Irish or Italian,” she said, “so you had to earn your peer’s respect. While it was good for him to be on the scene fighting fires and showing courage and leadership, he also had to pass those exams.”

His communication skills also helped him succeed, said Les Outerbridge, a retired fire engineer who co-founded the Afro American Firefighters League. “He could connect with people, [he was] very soft-spoken, very well-read, so he could really hold a conversation with just about everybody.”

After retiring from the department in 1979, he worked for the Occupational and Safety and Health Administration and at the National Safety Council.

thanks Dan

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Working fire in Chicago, 6-28-14

This from Eric Haak:

Just before 1300 hrs Saturday, a small but powerful thunderstorm cell passed over the southside of Chicago bringing with it torrential rain.  Witnesses said that there was a 30-second blast of wind which brought down a large tree limb on powerlines in the rear of a large home on Longwood Drive in the Beverly neighborhood.  The fire appeared to have started at the base of the exterior wall and traveled up into the attic.  The fire was brought under control in less than 15 minutes but I thought I would submit some images of these companies for those who may not get down to this end of the city very often.

 

firemen with hoseline at fire scene

Eric Haak photo

Chicago FD Engine 120

Eric Haak photo

Chicago FD E-ONE aerial ladder

Eric Haak photo

firemen with saw on E-ONE aerial ladder

Eric Haak photo

Chicago FD Engine 121

Eric Haak photo

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Rosemont car fire

This from Dan McInerney:

I took this in on the way home from work the other day. It was on the ramp that connects the westbound Kennedy to the northbound Tri-State tollway, just south of the toll plaza. Its always nice to see Rosemont’s rigs on the move with their Roto-Rays operating.

 

car fire photo

Dan McInerney photo

car fire photo

Dan McInerney photo

Pierce Quantum fire trucks

Dan McInerney photo

firemen extinguish car fire

Dan McInerney photo

firemen extinguish car fire

Dan McInerney photo

firemen extinguish car fire

Dan McInerney photo

firemen extinguish car fire

Dan McInerney photo

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Area apparatus photos

Larry Shapiro submitted several recent photos of area apparatus

Berwyn fire engine

Berwyn Engine 903 – 2008 Spartan Gladiator Classic /Crimson 1500/500 so 08053-001. Larry Shapiro photo

Cicero FD tractor-drawn aerial

Cicero Truck 2 – 2009 E-ONE Cyclone II 100′ HP-100 TDA so#134747. Larry Shapiro photo

Lyons Fire Department engine

Lyons Engine 1312 – 2008 Pierce Arrow XT 2000/750/120/30 so 20942. Larry Shapiro photo

 

ambulance photo

Niles Ambulance 2 – 2012 IHC 4300/2013 Medtec Type I MICU so# 26175-1. Larry Shapiro photo

Pierce Lance fire engine

Niles Engine 2R – 1992 Pierce Lance 1250/500 #E7192. Larry Shapiro photo

MABAS Division 3 Haz Mat Unit

Mabas 3 Haz Mat 3 – 2003 Sterling Acterra/Marion Haz Mat Unit so#21023. Larry Shapiro photo

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