This from Mike Summa:
Hello,This was a fire near my house in Oak Forest in 1995. A resident tried to blow up his apartment and caused a collapse in the building. The Oak Forest chief requested a CART response. Here are a few of the vehicles that responded. Feel free to add details or info if you know more. Enjoy!–Mike S.
Mike Summa photo
Mike Summa photo
Mike Summa photo
Mike Summa photo
May 23
Excerpts from Fox32chicago.com:
The Chicago Fire Department on Friday rolled out its first ambulance outfitted to transport patients suffering from an infectious disease, a direct result of the city’s reaction to the worldwide Ebola scare of 2014.
The ambulance features a pressurized plastic tent and an air filtration system powered by a battery with a three-hour charge, according to Assistant Deputy Chief Paul Roszkowski.
The price tag of the pressurized tent — which can be installed in any standard ambulance — is $3,000. The city has one, and there are two on order of 13 that the department eventually wants. Each air filtration unit and battery also costs about $3,000. Grant money is being used to buy the tents.
Once the other two tents are delivered and two more ambulances are equipped, the fire department plans to place them in strategic locations around the city that will allow for the fastest possible response to any neighborhood.
In response to the Ebola outbreak, the Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection in October 2014 launched extra screening at five airports, including O’Hare. But a year later, after screening more than 30,000 travelers for Ebola as they arrived at those airports from West African countries, federal health authorities said they never detected a single case of the often-fatal disease.
thanks Dan
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
A fire engine taken out of service by the Orland Fire Protection District has been donated to the Moraine Valley Community College in memory of Chicago Firefighter Daniel Capuano, who died in December.
“He’s going to be their guardian angel as they train,” Orland Fire Protection District Chief Michael Schofield said at a ceremony at the Palos Hills school on Wednesday.
Capuano, a 15-year veteran of the Chicago Fire Department took several courses at Moraine over the years, his daughter Amanda said. With the donation of the engine students, “will remember what a hero he was for years to come,” she told a crowd that included area firefighters and school officials.
She and her mother, Julie, Capuano’s parents Mike and Jacqui, brother Patrick and his children, daughter Delilah and son Bodhi, stood by the truck as a firefighter color guard walked past them at the end of the ceremony.
Capuano also worked for more than 16 years as a part-time firefighter in Evergreen Park, and “a lot of our guys in Orland worked with Dan in Evergreen Park,” Schofield said.
Andrew Hufnagl, coordinator of fire science and emergency medical services at Moraine, said the school and the Orland district have a long standing working relationship, and that six current or former firefighters and officers with the district are instructors at Moraine. He told Capuano’s family, “We promise you we will use his name and try to make him proud every day.”
Orland had been using the engine since 1999, and it was formally retired about nine months ago, when the district got a new piece of engine. Noting that district residents attend Moraine, Schofield said the donation made perfect sense.
“If we can keep the taxpayers’ money in the area and help Moraine Valley, it helps everybody,” he said.
May 23
Excerpts from the Chicagocitizen.com:
Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) Director Hugo Chaviano recently recognized the Posen Fire Department as the first public sector employer to achieve Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) status in Illinois.
“Posen FD is committed to incorporating health and safety measures across all parts of its work environment,” said IDOL Director Chaviano. “With its acceptance into SHARP, they are not only an example for other firefighters but also for the entire community.”
Last year, after an Illinois OSHA onsite consultation, the Posen FD implemented an enhanced, comprehensive health and safety program. Fire Chief Kevin Szewczyk led the department in updating its safety policies and putting in place additional preventative procedures.
“Workplace safety should be a top priority for both employers and employees,” IDOL Director Chaviano said. “I commend Posen FD’s leadership in safety and encourage employers across the state to take advantage of our on-site consultations.” Illinois OSHA, a division within IDOL, offers free and confidential safety and health onsite consultations for employers with up to 500 employees. After meeting certain requirements, employers can earn SHARP status, which exempts them from routine OSHA inspections during the period that the SHARP certification is valid.
May 23
From the Fire Service, Inc. Facebook page:
Here are a few pics of our recent final inspection of Oak Lawn FD’s new Med 1. This new unit will be headed north very soon. Will post a full set of interor and exterior pics once radios and other small loose items have been installed. Thanks and congratulations to the OLFD.
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Fire Service, Inc. photo
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Residents in parts of Mount Prospect and Prospect Heights can expect quicker responses to emergencies after the two communities’ fire departments set aside long-standing differences this week to forge a new mutual aid agreement.
The deal, ratified this week by the Mount Prospect village board and Prospect Heights Fire Protection District, is the first between the two in five years. Such deals lay out when and where one department would respond to an emergency in the other’s jurisdiction.
“There was, I guess you would say, a difference of opinion,” Prospect Heights Fire Chief Donald Gould said. “We withdrew from the (previous) agreement, and now there is some new administration.”
The key point of dispute over the years, Gould said, concerned what part of each community an agreement should cover and he said the new agreement should mean faster response times.
“Some of the area of Mount Prospect is actually almost right across the street from our fire station (at Camp McDonald and Route 83),” he said.
Mount Prospect Fire Chief Brian Lambel told the village board Tuesday that he began reviewing agreements with neighboring communities when he took over as interim chief last summer. Since then, department representatives have met with the Elk Grove, Elk Grove Township, Des Plaines and Prospect Heights departments.
Lambel said that one area where he believed improved coverage is needed is the north side of the village, which borders Prospect Heights.
The new agreement came about after regular meetings between Mount Prospect Deputy Chief John Dolan and Prospect Heights Deputy Chief Drew Smith. Those laid the groundwork for Mount Prospect firefighters joining their peers from Prospect Heights and Arlington Heights in training exercises, and ultimately the aid agreement.
The deal is expected to improve fire response in neighborhoods near Camp McDonald and Elmhurst roads, as well as between Wolf and River roads, north of Kensington Road.
This from Eric Haak:
A few minutes before 0500 hrs on Sunday morning (5/22), a working fire response was sent to 6514 S. Ellis Avenue. Engine 63 arrived moments later and confirmed they had a fire. Engine 60 took the alley and used their deck gun on fully-involved back porches, knocking down most of the exterior fire. The 5th Battalion reported he had a 3-story, 75×100 apartment building and requested a still and box. One family was trapped in a third floor apartment and had to be rescued via ground laddersmoments before 4-5-8 requested an EMS Plan I. Fire did get into the rear of several apartments but was controlled fairly quickly. I spent most of my time shooting the rescues so very little firefighting images from the rear on this one. I am unsure if anyone was actually transported from this incident although it did appear that all members of the family were in relatively good condition. It was apparent that working smoke detectors were in the building but it is unknown if that is what alerted the family to the fire.
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
Eric Haak photo
This from Drew Smith:
May 10, 11, and 12 the Prospect Heights, Mount Prospect, and Wheeling fire departments conducted joint training at Euclid Avenue and Elmhurst Road. The former Social Security office building built in 1996 is being razed to build a Chase Bank. We were able to conduct roof operations and make several openings.
Drew Smith photo
Drew Smith photo
Drew Smith photo
Drew Smith photo
May 22
This from Bob Altwasser:
Here is a photo of Skokie Engine 18. The rig was completely rehabbed and is now back in service.
Bob Altwasser
Skokie Engine 18 in service after being rehabbed. Bob Altwasser photo
Excerpts from theChicagoTribune.com:
The Park Ridge City Council on May 2 approved new ambulance fees for residents and nonresidents who use their services within the city’s boundaries. According to documents provided by the city, the resident rate for basic life support service will increase from $500 to $650, while the rate for advanced services will increase from $700 to $800.A higher level of advance life support will remain at $950 for residents, while the mileage charge of $15 per mile also will not increase.
The nonresident rate for basic life support will increase from $650 to $825, while forms of advanced life support service will increase by $25.
Patients with Medicare coverage will pay different rates, in accordance with fees that are published each year by the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, the city’s ordinance on ambulance fees says.
Paul Lisowski, executive officer for the Park Ridge Fire Department, told the city council on April 25 that non-Medicare ambulance fees have not been raised since 2011. The increases were determined based on a survey of 107 suburban fire departments. Park Ridge’s new rates now hover around the average fees charged by these departments, the survey shows.
The fire department does not currently charge for treatment that does not result in transport to the hospital, Lisowski said.
Through an intergovernmental agreement with the Des Plaines Fire Department and North Maine Fire Protection District, residents of Park Ridge will still be charged resident rates even if they are treated in the city by paramedics from these other two communities, Lisowski’s memo to the City Council said.
But residents can be charged different rates if they receive mutual aid service from other neighboring departments, like Niles or Rosemont.
“We are currently in discussions with our other immediate neighboring fire departments to see if we can enter into an agreement with them as well,” he said. “If these discussions lead to any tentative agreements with any other departments, we will bring them to council for their approval.”
thanks Dan
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