Archive for November, 2014

Chicago Still & Box Alarm, 11-29-14 (more)

This from Drew Gresik:

Here are some of my shots from last night’s Still & Box at 416 E 75th St.
Thanks,
Drew Gresik
night fire scene in Chicago

Drew Gresik photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Drew Gresik photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Drew Gresik photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Drew Gresik photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Drew Gresik photo

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Chicago Still & Box Alarm, 11-29-14 (more)

This from Eric Haak:

Here are some more images from the Still & Box on East 75th Street on Saturday night (11/29).  The images in this gallery were taken 40 minutes in.  The still went out at approximately 1920 hrs.  Engines pumping at this incident were 122, 72, 47 and 54.
night fire scene in Chicago

Eric Haak photo

Chicago Tower Ladder 34

Eric Haak photo

Chicago FD Engine 122

Eric Haak photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Eric Haak photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Eric Haak photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Eric Haak photo

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Chicago Still & Box Alarm, 11-29-14

This from Josh Boyajian:

CFD Still & Box @ 416 e 75th, here are some of my shots from the fire tonight. 

night fire scene in Chicago

Josh Boyajian photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Josh Boyajian photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Josh Boyajian photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Josh Boyajian photo

night fire scene in Chicago

Josh Boyajian photo

 

Full gallery is on my site…

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Wheeling FD orders new apparatus

The JournalTopics.com has an article about the Wheeling Fire Department ordering new fire apparatus:

Wheeling Village Board members approved a major purchase for the fire department during their meeting Monday, Nov. 24. The Wheeling Fire Dept. plans to buy one new engine and one ladder tower truck from Rosenbauer America.

The cost to purchase the engine and ladder is $1,458,138. The engine contract is for $537,443 and the ladder tower contract is $913,195. The new equipment will be paid for from the village’s Capital Equipment Replacement Fund.

The new equipment will replace Engine 42 and Truck 24.

thanks Karl

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New engine for Batavia

From the Fire Service , Inc. Facebook page … image of the new Batavia engine being built

Fire engine being built

Fire Service, Inc photo

Fire engine being built

Fire Service, Inc photo

Fire engine being built

Fire Service, Inc photo

Fire engine being built

Fire Service, Inc photo

Fire engine being built

Fire Service, Inc photo

Fire engine being built

Fire Service, Inc photo

Fire engine being built

Fire Service, Inc photo

Fire engine being built

Fire Service, Inc photo

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Antioch MVA with extrication, 11/26/14

This from Tim Olk:

Antioch Pin In Accident Rt 173 & Deep Lake Road

 

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

firemen cut victim from car after crash

Tim Olk photo

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Gary FD video compilation

This from Josh Boyajian:

  This is a video that my buddy made of his first year as a Gary fireman through his helmet cam.

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Addison Fire District updates

This from Tim Right:

Hello, This is from DC Joe Leone
Hello Mr. Right, we purchased and are now building two new ambulances for the District. They should be done in July. They are from Horton and are F-550. We will sell just one of the old ones and have a total of 5 ambulances. 3 full time, one spare with gear on it and one in reserve. The two engines are in reserve and one of them is at station 1 the other is at station 3.
Also I have attached the new quints pictures so you can add them to their numbered station when you are updating.
Thanks,
Tim
Addison Fire District

Addison Fire District photo

Addison Fire District

Addison Fire District photo

Addison Fire District

Addison Fire District photo

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Aurora Fire Museum

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news, notes, and announcements from the
AURORA REGIONAL FIRE MUSEUM

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Sat. Nov. 29
Exhibit opening
and contest judging
from 1 to 4pm

Thurs. Dec. 18
Raffle winners
announced

Sat. Dec. 20
Exhibit closes and
gingerbread FIREhouses may be picked up from
the museum
Join us this Saturday (Nov. 29th) from 1 to 4pm for the Aurora Regional Fire Museum’s 6th annual holiday exhibit opening and Gingerbread FIREhouse Contest.More than a dozen gingerbread FIREhouses, fire stations, and burning buildings have been specially crafted for this event.  Contest rules state that all entries depict a firefighting themed architectural structure (real or imaginary), and that everything except for the base,  must be 100% edible. Over $500 in cash and prizes will be awarded by a panel of judges.

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Also back for the holidays are our family of festive firehouse mice who have taken up residence to decorate the Aurora Regional Fire Museum. See CoCo as he bakes in the museum’s kitchen, Sparks as he tries to ring a fire bell, and Ashes as he decorates a 1948 fire engine…. We’ll give you a special treat if you can spot all the holiday mice.

The Gingerbread FIREhouse Exhibit opens — and will be judged — on Saturday, November 29th with special activities, FREE admission for the day, a visit from Santa the Fire Chief, storytelling, a holiday mouse hunt, and more. All gingerbread FIREhouses will remain on exhibit at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum though Saturday December 20th, and most will be available by raffle.

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For more information about the Aurora Regional Fire Museum’s Gingerbread FIREhouse Contest and Holiday Exhibit, along with the latest hours, exhibit, and special event information, visit the Aurora Regional Fire Museum’s website:

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North Riverside considers privatizing the fire department (more)

Illinoispolicy.org has an editorial weighing in on North Riverside’s quest to privatize their fire department:

Illinois’ municipal pension shortfall, excluding Chicago, has spiked to more than $12 billion from $1 billion just a decade ago. Municipalities are suffering the consequences. They’re cutting core services, raising taxes and adding new fees to pay for their increasing government-worker pension costs.

The problem is local governments have their hands tied when it comes to pension reform. The Illinois state legislature sets municipal pension laws with no regard to whether the local budget and taxpayers can afford them.

But the village of North Riverside found a way to get around the General Assembly’s road block to pension reform. North Riverside plans to move its entire fire department to a private provider of fire protection services – a private provider with a 401(k)-style retirement plan. The village plans to transfer its 12 firefighters and four lieutenants – and their full salaries – to the same private company that’s been providing the village’s ambulance service for nearly 30 years.

The move to a private provider of fire protection services would reduce the village’s $1.9 million budget deficit by nearly 40 percent. The savings would largely come from the private provider switching the firefighters from the traditional defined-benefit pension plans to 401(k)-style retirement plans going forward.

North Riverside’s reform plan would finally bring more stability to the village’s decade-long budget battle. Since the late 1990s, village leadership decided between making its yearly pension contributions or making a combination of service cuts and tax or fee hikes. The village made virtually no payments to its fire and police pensions in the years 2005-2006 and 2009-2011. The village blames operating deficits and volatile sales-tax revenues – more than 70 percent of village revenues come from commerce fees and sales taxes – for forcing it to short its pension funds.

According to the village, if North Riverside had not reduced its pension contributions, it would have ended 12 of the last 15 budget years with a deficit, some of them quite large.

North Riverside has run out of options and it can’t afford to wait for the state to reform local pension systems. Draining reserves and cutting services will only go so far. Taxes are already pushed to the limit, and a new law taking effect in 2016 allows the state to redirect a municipality’s funds if it fails to pay its required pension contributions.

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Contracting fire protection services with a private provider is one of the few sustainable solutions that village officials can act on immediately – without waiting for the state to reform pensions.

This reform would allow North Riverside to maintain its current level of public safety. North Riverside firefighters will be able to keep their current jobs, their salaries will be maintained, their already earned pension benefits will be protected and going forward they’ll be given ownership and control over their own retirement accounts with 401(k)-style contracts through the private provider.

Contracting fire protection services with a private provider will help protect taxpayers from higher taxes and cuts in services to fund ever-increasing pension costs. This reform will help end the cycle of credit downgrades, set the foundation for a positive outlook and spur a North Riverside turnaround.

thanks Dan

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