Archive for April 1st, 2016

Fatal CFD Still & Box Alarm with Mayday injures firefighter, 4-1-16

A CFD firefighter was injured tonight and a Mayday was issued during the Still & Box Alarm fire at 312 N. Central

From CFD Media:

312 N Central, S&B alarm multi unit 75×125. Fire is out. CFD ventilating chasing hot spots fire under investigation.

Chicago fier scene

CFD Media photo

Fire at 312 north central now a fatal. Fire on second floor of SRO. Also 1 firefighter injured.

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Crash victim thanks firefighters and paramedics that saved his life

Excerpts from the roster.com:

Cody Drummer couldn’t remember most of the people who saved his life after he was pinned under a garbage truck last November, but he still wanted to meet and thank them … and recently he got that opportunity.

He was in the car with his family, and thought they were going to lunch. Instead, they pulled into the parking lot of Cherry Valley Fire Protection District Station 2 in Rockford. Drummer was helped from the back seat into a wheelchair while about a dozen local firefighters and paramedics waited.

He shook their hands and thanked them for playing a vital role in saving his life.

Drummer, of Rockford, was joined by his mother, and his wife of nine months, Cassidy. The couple are expecting a baby girl in June.

“In the first days after Cody’s accident, there were a lot of times that I sat next to Cody’s bed, praying that the Lord would give us an opportunity for this to happen,” she said, fighting back tears. “It just means the world to us. These people will always have a place in our hearts.”

“That means my baby (will) have a dad, so I’m just really thankful,” his wife Cassidy said.

On Nov. 9, Drummer was driving a garbage truck along Baxter Road when a pickup crossed into his lane and collided with his truck, pushing it on its side.

A second passenger in the garbage truck was OK, but Drummer was pinned underneath. A Maggio’s tow truck lifted some of the weight off him as Cherry Valley firefighters spent about an hour cutting him from the wreck. He was then airlifted to the hospital. The Cherry Valley, New Milford, and Stillman Valley fire departments responded.

“I just wanted to thank them,” Drummer said. “They didn’t have to sign up for this job. They do this because they love saving people. They’re heroes, basically, and I just wanted to thank them.”

With his left leg in a splint and neck in a brace, Drummer was wheeled around the fire station parking lot so that he could express his gratitude. Before he arrived, a LifeFlight helicopter similar to the OSF LifeLine that airlifted him from the accident scene landed in the parking lot so he could see the aircraft up close.

Among those he met was Steve Reuss, a firefighter and paramedic with Cherry Valley who was the first to speak with Drummer. Reuss then transported the critically injured driver of the other vehicle to the hospital. A medical condition apparently caused him to lose control of his truck; he is recovering from his injuries.

Reuss said this is just the second time in 20 years he’s been able to follow up with someone whose life he saved.

“This is nice,” he said. “Doing this long enough, you don’t get to see people, you don’t get to know how they ended up. Nowadays, with all the [privacy], you can’t really follow up on anything. You never really know how they’re doing, unless you read it in the newspaper or their obituary.”

Lt. Lane Person of the Stillman Valley Fire Department was at the scene of the accident; he also works for a private ambulance company in Loves Park that has taken Drummer to his appointments in Rockford and Madison, Wisconsin.

“I feel great,” he said. “I’m extremely thankful for all this, and it makes me even more excited that I’m still here to be able to be with my wife and family.”

 

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Aurora Fire Department news

Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:

When Luanne Whitmer took the job as an Aurora firefighter in 1994, she knew there weren’t too many female firefighters around, but it wasn’t until she was accepted to go into training that she found out she would be the sole female firefighter in Aurora, and the first in the department’s history.

“I didn’t know I was going to be the only one,” she said. “It was terrifying. But it had been a dream of mine.”

That dream has lasted 22 years, but is ending soon. Luanne Whitmer and her husband Steve, also a firefighter, are retiring. Fellow workers gathered at a reception in their honor in Aurora. It gave her a chance to reflect on 22 years at the department – the first 19 of those as the only female firefighter in town. There are now two more, who were hired in 2013.

Whitmer was 33 at the time she came on in 1994 – considered an old age for a firefighter to start. But she said the advanced age helped her to have the maturity to be a trailblazer of sorts.

“They made changes physically to the station to accommodate me,” she said. “But really, (the other firefighters) were all really good. I did understand that I was coming into a male-dominated situation. I had to fit into their world, too.”

Luanne had wanted to be a firefighter since she was a child, because her father was a fire department volunteer.

Eventually, she found herself assigned to Engine Company 5, where Steve Whitmer also was assigned. Steve had already been at the department for five years. They were partners for three or four years, she said, before it became something more.

thanks Dan

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New ambulance for Aurora

From the Fire Service, Inc. Facebook page:

Fire Service, Inc congratulates the City of Aurora Fire Department on the delivery of their latest Wheeled Coach Type I ambulance! AFD has trusted Fire Service, Inc and Wheeled Coach to provide EMS apparatus to the second largest city in Illinois. This unit includes Cool Bar HVAC system, Whelen emergency lighting and a custom interior, including the latest safety innovations for occupant restraint. Thank you again to the AFD, for your continued business, and being part of the Fire Service, Inc. family.

Aurora FD Medic 4 ambulance

Fire Service, Inc photo

Aurora FD Medic 4 ambulance

New Wheeled Coach Type I ambulance for Aurora Medic 4. Fire Service, Inc photo

Aurora FD Medic 4 ambulance

Fire Service, Inc photo

Aurora FD Medic 4 ambulance

Fire Service, Inc photo

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New engines for the Tri-State FPD

The Tri-State FPD recently received two new Pierce engines.

Tri-State FPD Engine 521

New Pierce Enforcer for Tri-State FPD Engine 521, 1500/750, so#29068. Pierce composite

Tri-State FPD Engine 511

New Pierce Enforcer PUC for Tri-State FPD Engine 511, 1500/750, so#28570. Pierce composite

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