More photos from Nick Nezri of CFD apparatus at O’Hare
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Archive for November, 2015
As seen around … O’Hare
Nov 21
This from Eric Haak:
To continue the wall to wall coverage of Tuesday night’s 2-11 in Chicago, I would like to submit the video I took in between taking pictures. While not as good as an original Steve Redick or Larry Shapiro work of art, I hope that with some practice I will some day be able to achieve the level of success Steve and Larry have had in producing their video montages. While I am not completely happy with the final product, I hope you will enjoy the fireground action I was able to catch.
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
The Tri-State Fire Protection District will be looking for a new fire chief after Jack Mancione stepped down earlier this month with 18 months left on his contract, said Eric Habercoss, president of the district’s board of trustees. The board appointed Battalion Chief Patrick Brenn acting fire chief at its Monday meeting.
The Tri-State district provides fire protection services to parts of Burr Ridge, Darien, Willowbrook, Willow Springs and unincorporated DuPage County.
Mancione had been chief following the retirement of Chief Michelle Gibson in February 2014. Gibson’s retirement agreement was criticized by the Better Government Association because it called for paying her $115,000 for unused sick, vacation and personal days and an additional $22,000.
The terms of Mancione’s retirement agreement, which the board approved Nov. 16, will not be released until after Mancione has received a copy, which is expected to happen Monday, the district’s administrative assistant said.
Habercoss said he believes the agreement is fair and reasonable. The terms were based on Mancione’s contract, which was approved before Habercoss was elected to the Tri-State Board in April.
A week after Mancione retired, Deputy Fire Chief William Just also retired.
In the past four months, the Edgar County Watchdog website has criticized Mancione for not documenting donations of used fire district equipment and releasing personal health information about employees as part of a response to a FOIA request. Mancione did not respond to a request for comment.
Habercoss said the district is checking with an executive recruiting firm and the Illinois Association of Fire Chiefs to find out the costs of getting outside help with the search for a new chief. Habercoss said the board wants a chief who will clean up the administration and modernize the administration, policies, and procedures.
The district has drawn increased scrutiny since the Better Government Association reported last year that despite Gibson and a district trustee, Julie Strenzel, being in a civil union and raising a family together, Strenzel did not recuse herself from votes on Gibson’s salary, benefits, and retirement agreement. Strenzel ran for re-election April 7, but lost to Habercoss.
Hamilton Gibbons, who was president of the board when Gibson retired, subsequently stepped down. Bob Jewell was chosen to replace Gibbons. Further change occurred in August when Trustee Mike Orrico said he was no longer living in the district and resigned. The remaining two trustees interviewed five candidates and selected Joseph Wolski to fill Orrico’s spot.
Responding to residents’ call for an expanded board, the board has voted to expand the number of district trustees from three to five. The district received differing legal opinions about when the board expansion could occur. Habercross favors waiting for them to be chosen in the April 2017 election.
The board at its Nov. 16 meeting also instructed the district’s Board of Fire Commissioners to proceed with the hiring of three new firefighters.
“We seem to be moving in the right direction,” Habercoss said.
As seen around … O’Hare
Nov 20
This from Nick Nezri:
On 11-14-15, I was privileged to be able to go on an airfield tour of O’Hare Airport, which was set up by the ORD Airport Watch planespotting group. Lucky for me, nearly all of the ORD based CFD companies were conducting training at rescue station one, so our tour added a stop. I was able to photograph a variety of the rigs, and was even given the opportunity to go inside 6-5-8. I would like to extend a big thank you to everyone at the CFD for welcoming us to their station with no advance notice, moving the rigs for better photos, displaying their equipment, and answering all of our members questions! It was really appreciated!
-Nick Neziri
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Nick Neziri photo
Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick photo
More on this fire HERE
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
The city of Highwood has reached agreements with its fire union and individual union members that clear the way for the municipality to dissolve its fire department and receive fire and paramedic services from the city of Highland Park. Highwood voters must first approve a referendum question on the March 15 ballot allowing the city to discontinue providing emergency services.
The two suburbs have worked out the terms of a 30-year contract for Highland Park to take over fire and paramedic services for its neighbor July 1, if Highwood voters approve the ballot question. Under the agreement, Highwood would pay Highland Park $625,000 the first year for emergency and fire inspection services. Annual increases would be tied to inflation but capped at 3 percent. The Highwood City Council was scheduled to vote on the agreement Nov. 17.
A key condition of the accord is that Highwood settle labor disputes with its union, a local of the International Association of Fire Fighters, over the dissolution of the department and the contracting of services before July 1. The pact also requires Highwood to settle grievances brought by three first-year firefighters who were dismissed last spring shortly before their probationary periods were set to expire. At the time, Highwood was reducing the number of full-time firefighters and paramedics, and preparing to contract with Paramedic Services of Illinois for some of its personnel. That plan was put on hold after the union grievances were filed, and the three dismissed firefighters were rehired as part-time employees.
Under the agreements worked out with the union, Highwood will make lump sum severance payments to five firefighters, including the dismissed employees, if the referendum passes. Part-time employees will be paid $25 for each 24-hour shift worked between November, 2015 and June 30, 2016, when the department would close if the referendum passes.
Meanwhile, the employees and the union have agreed not to make disparaging remarks about the city or its efforts to dissolve the fire department, or interfere with the referendum. The union has agreed not to ask the Associated Fire Fighters of Illinois, an advocacy organization, to become involved in the question of cessation or the referendum.
Highland Park’s Fire Station 34 at 1100 Half Day Road is located a few blocks west of Highwood’s western border, and municipal officials note the department already responds to many Highwood fire calls under automatic and mutual aid agreements. Highwood is less than one square mile and is surrounded on all sides by Highland Park.
Highwood expects to save $684,000 the first year, and is projecting $9.3 million in savings over the first decade of the agreement even if the yearly, inflation-based increases in payments to Highland Park are the maximum 3 percent.
Previous posts can be found HERE
Excerpts from CBSChicago:
Police and fire departments prepare for the worst: mass shootings, terrorism … at the Techny Towers in Northbrook. Three case studies: terrorism in Mumbai, India; the mass shooting at the movie theater in Colorado, and the Boston Marathon bombing are all shaping a homeland security exercise in Northbrook.
Multiple communities learned what Winnetka Police Chief Pat Kreis calls a new model for emergency response. In the old model, Kreis says, “Often times before this training we would focus on the police officers moving each patient out to a location to transfer to the paramedics.” Now, the police officers and paramedics are trained to go in together, officers securing the building while paramedics in bullet proof gear begin treatment right there, even in a gunfight.
The American Medical Association reports people at the 2013 Boston Marathon are alive today because they were first treated at the scene. Before they saw a hospital emergency room. “The Boston Marathon bombing was a great example of how many lives are saved because of how quickly those wounded persons were moved into the EMS system,” Kreis said.
More from Steve Redick at the 2-11 Alarm fire 11/17/15
Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick photo
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Steve Redick photo
Steve Redick video from the 2-11 Alarm fire at 126 E. 47th Street (11/17/15)
This from Josh Boyajian:
Here are some shots from the 2-11 last night.
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
Josh Boyajian photo
