Archive for January 20th, 2016

African American Firefighter and Paramedic League of Chicago calls for resignations (more)

Excerpts from Fox32Chicago.com:

At least 20 of the 111 black firefighters hired by the Chicago Fire Department after a marathon discrimination lawsuit had not been medically cleared by a department physician before starting work and two of them suffered serious medical events and died while off-duty, the city’s inspector general disclosed Tuesday.

Under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Chicago resolved a bitter legal battle the mayor inherited from former Mayor Richard M. Daley stemming from the city’s discriminatory handling of a 1995 firefighters entrance exam, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting. The city agreed to hire 111 bypassed African-American firefighters and borrow the $78.4 million needed to compensate nearly 6,000 African-Americans who never got that chance.

Two weeks ago, Emanuel proudly pointed to that legal resolution as he fended off demands by an organization of African-American firefighters calling for the dismissal of Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago and a federal investigation into what the group says are racist policies at the fire department.“We settled that. Paid out somewhere around $60 million to $75 million to the individuals. Then, produced the class for [111] individuals to fulfill their dreams of becoming Chicago firefighters,” the mayor said.

On Tuesday, Inspector General Joe Ferguson added a new chapter to the long-running legal saga.

In his quarterly report, Ferguson disclosed he had conducted an investigation that revealed that at least 20 firefighters in the so-called Lewis class of African-American firefighters had not been medically cleared by a Chicago Fire Department physician before starting duty, contrary to national standards and the city’s own established practice.

“Two of the 20 improperly-cleared members suffered serious medical events while off-duty and died not long after they began their full duties, highlighting the importance of a CFD physician to provide medical clearance for all new firefighters,” Ferguson wrote.

“OIG strongly urged that CFD consider immediate action to assure that the remaining 18 members who had not been medically cleared by a CFD physician were, in fact, medically fit for duty. OIG further urged that CFD devise and implement a formal medical clearance policy consistent with national standards to assure that similar deviations did not occur in the future.”

The Chicago Fire Department responded to the inspector general’s findings by claiming that all 111 black firefighters had been medically examined by an outside vendor that reviewed the candidates’ medical history and conducted a physical exam and blood tests. The fire department’s own doctors then conducted an initial review of the outside vendor’s files to either clear the candidate or order additional steps, including follow-up exams by the candidate’s personal physician or retesting if initial blood tests showed anomalous results.

But, the fire department acknowledged that department physicians fell behind in the subsequent review of applicant files aimed at making certain those additional steps were taken.

“CFD further [acknowledged] that, operating on the advice of counsel and in order to ensure compliance with a court-imposed hiring deadline, it decided to have administrative personnel conduct a limited and administrative follow-up review of the medical files of 53 yet to be cleared candidates,” Ferguson wrote.

Those administrators ultimately cleared 19 of 53 candidates and rejected 34 others whose documentation was incomplete. The fire department subsequently acknowledged that a twentieth candidate may have been administratively cleared.

In his report, Ferguson disclosed that a current and former medical director for the Chicago Fire Department told investigators that administrative personnel performing the document check lacked the medical judgment necessary to evaluate whether candidates met the required medical standards for the rigorous job of being a firefighter.

National standards clearly state that when medical evaluations are conducted by a doctor or medical provider other than a fire epartment’s own physician, the evaluation must be reviewed and approved by the fire department’s own doctors.

After the first of the two cleared firefighters died, the CFD hired an outside doctor with particular experience with fire service requirements to conduct a more thorough review of the medical files of the 19 other candidates administratively cleared.

“Soon after, a second of the 19 administratively-cleared candidates died while off-duty. Both of the firefighters who died were among the six candidates who the outside doctor identified as having medical conditions warranting further inquiry, which CFD has acknowledged,” the inspector general’s report states.

Three of the four surviving administratively-cleared firefighters for whom the outside physician recommended additional screening later experienced a medical issue unrelated to the condition of concern, Ferguson disclosed.

The Chicago Fire Department’s medical staff subsequently cleared all three as fully-fit to return to duty after a wellness exam that did not include blood tests and other diagnostic components that are part of a candidate’s screening process.  The fourth firefighter had no occasion to be evaluated by department physicians.

“CFD stated that it had discussed performing a medical exam for all the administratively-cleared firefighters and was willing to pursue such examinations, but was advised by outside counsel that doing so would be improper and potentially violate” the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),” Ferguson wrote.

Going forward, CFD noted that its current medical director ‘has developed detailed internal operating procedures that follow National Fire Protection Association standards, which the department is now following. The Chicago Fire Department’s Medical Division Handbook dated June, 2015  states that a CFD physician must make a final medical clearance determination on applicants.

thanks Dan

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Clark Oil Refinery historic apparatus photos

This from Mike Summa:

Hello,
I thought that I’d share these with you.  These are from the Clark Oil Refinery in Blue Island.  Clark Oil was in unincorporated Blue Island, but was in the Alsip Fire District.  I thought that I’d share these with you,
Thank you,
Mike Summa
fire truck from the Clark Oil Refinery in Blue Island IL

From the the Clark Oil Refinery in Blue Island, IL. Mike Summa photo

fire truck from the Clark Oil Refinery in Blue Island IL

From the the Clark Oil Refinery in Blue Island, IL. Mike Summa photo

fire truck from the Clark Oil Refinery in Blue Island IL

From the the Clark Oil Refinery in Blue Island, IL. Mike Summa photo

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Working fire in Justice, 1-18-16 (more)

This from Steve Redick:

I took in a job in an area I seldom get to. A full-still response for fire in a double-wide mobile home inside a large trailer park, in the town of Justice, now served by the Roberts Park Fire Protection District. Extreme cold conditions coupled with severe water problems made this an extended job. They used booster tank water from two engines and finally were able to find a working hydrant several hundred feet away. Eventually the tower was set up and used as the collapsed roof area was preventing penetration of ground based exterior streams. All in all a tough job on a miserable day.

All of the images can be seen here:

Steve Redick

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

firefighters battle fire in a mobile home

Steve Redick photo

 

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2-Alarm house fire in Lake Geneva, WI, 1-19-16

fire billows from burning house

Ted H photo

Excerpts from Fox6now.com:

Firefighters and police officers on Tuesday, January 19th were called out shortly after 11:30 a.m to a fire with occupants trapped inside at a home near South and Elm Streets in the City of Lake Geneva.

The home was fully engulfed when police and firefighters arrived at the scene, but four people who were downstairs were able to get out of the home safely.

Two adults with a baby who were upstairs crawled out onto the roof of the home. They were able to toss the baby to a police officer, while a neighbor found a ladder to help the adults down from the roof, but the ladder collapsed and a woman fell.

Photos from Tim Olk at the 2-Alarm house fire at 1195 Elm Street in Lake Geneva, WI 1/19/16.

firefighters overhaul from ladder tip

Tim Olk photo

Lake Geneva Fire Department fire truck

Tim Olk photo

firefighter overhauls from ladder

Tim Olk photo

Devalue Fire Department fire truck

Tim Olk photo

fireman with ice covered helmet

Tim Olk photo

firefighters overhaul from ladder tip

Tim Olk photo

firefighters overhaul after fire

Tim Olk photo

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