From Josh Boyajian:
Archive for August, 2016
video by Jim McCall of the House fire in Wilmette, 8-22-16
Photos from Gordon J. Nord, Jr. of the 3-11 Alarm fire in Chicago kills four, 8-23-16
This from Dave Weaver, radioman911.com:
8/23/16 CHICAGO – 4-Fatality 3-11 Alarm/EMS Plan 2 Apartment Fire 8114 S. Essex Ave. – (Englewood fire radio repeater traffic edited for major transmissions only and heavily time-condensed) Recording by Radioman911/Audio via Broadcastify
Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
A 3-month-old baby, two girls 4 and 7, and a man died in an extra-alarm fire in an apartment building in the South Chicago neighborhood early Tuesday, and police said a man suspected of starting the fire after an argument is being held.
Officials said that the baby died after being found next to a man who had jumped from the three-story building in the 8100 block of South Essex Avenue at 1:39 a.m., the two girls were found in an apartment on the third floor, and the man was discovered in an apartment next door.
A police source said a man suspected of starting the fire has been taken into custody. He apparently had an argument with someone in the South Side building, and that person was able to escape the fire.
Deputy Fire Commissioner Arriel Gray said firefighters encountered heavy flames on the second and third floors. Both stairwells were compromised. Fire crews were unable to get inside the building because of the intensity of the fire and had to combat the blaze from the outside.
The fire was struck out at 5:39 a.m., according to Gray.
Witnesses said they saw several people jump from the building, which has about 32 apartments. Fire officials said they used ladders to rescue several people.
The 3-month-old was taken in critical condition to Comer Children’s Hospital and was pronounced dead at 2:40 a.m.
A 48-year-old man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn in critical condition, and two other people were taken to South Shore Hospital, one in fair condition and the other in a good condition.
The bodies of a man and two children were found hours later as firefighters finally got access to the part of the building where the fire started.
People jumped from apartments on the second and third floors on the south side of the U-shaped apartment building.
The building, its apartments facing 81st Street and Essex Avenue, has failed every annual inspection dating to 2011, according to records from the Chicago Department of Buildings.
The most recent failed inspection was in November 2015. City officials were unable to access most of the apartments or the rear porches to fully investigate the conditions of the structure, records show. In the areas city officials were able to investigate, they found a porch that was improperly secured to the building, an interior stairwell missing pickets and mice droppings in a kitchen.
Among several violations listed in previous inspections were missing and non-functioning smoke detectors, non-functioning emergency lighting, fire extinguishers with expired tags, protruding nails on porches and rats inside a unit.
Police said they received reports around 1:35 a.m. that someone had set fire to the courtyard building. Responding firefighters called a 2-11 Alarm as the fire spread through the second and third floors. That was quickly followed by a 3-11 Alarm with an EMS Plan II, sending 10 ambulances and around 150 firefighters along with extra equipment to the fire.
As mutual aid companies were picking up and being released from a house fire in Wilmette Wednesday afternoon around 3:30PM (8/22/16), RED Center began grabbing companies to respond to 1220 Chestnut Avenue in Wilmette for another reported house fire. Morton Grove Engine 4 and Highland Park Ambulance 32 on a change of quarters from Wilmette stations, Northfield Truck 29, Winnetka Engine 28, and Glenview Engine 13 that were on the road back to their quarters, plus Glenview Truck 14, Northfield Squad 29, in addition to Wilmette Engine 26R, Engine 27, Battalion 26, and Ambulance 26 were all sent on the second reported fire.
The homeowner reported hearing a smoke detector on the second floor, and while going to investigate encountered smoke on the second floor and called 9-1-1. Northfield Truck 29 had light smoke showing on arrival and they found a small fire in a second floor bathroom that was in the wall. The fire was out within 10 minutes and companies began to pickup.
more photos at shapirophotography.net
Wilmette firefighters were called to their first fire of the day Monday afternoon just before 2PM (8/22/16) at 1336 Ashland Avenue where workers were apparently on the roof. The initial report was a possible attic fire. The house was located within blocks of Station 26 and units arrived quickly and reported smoke from the attic and some visible fire. The alarm was upgraded to the Code 4 working fire which brought mutual aid companies from Evanston, Winnetka, Northfield, Glenview, and Skokie.
The fire was knocked down within 20 minutes though companies remained on the scene for over an hour doing overhaul, venting, and chasing hot spots. Most mutual aid companies were released before 3:30PM when RED Center dispatched another house fire in Wilmette. This will be covered in a separate post.
more photos at shapirophotography.net
Excerpts from WIFR.com:
Red X’s have been popping up on vacant homes all over Rockford as part of a new program by the fire department. The Red X program is designed as way to let firefighters know that the building has some structural weaknesses before going inside.
“The roof structure did collapse and narrowly missed some of our firefighters. That’s a situation where a sign like this would have warned our firefighters this building has some structural issues and would help drive our tactics a little bit more,” says Rockford Fire Department Division Chief Matt Knott.
The Red X also defines some of the buildings as being on a demolition list and helps neighbors keep an eye on what’s happening next door.
Emergency respondersFirefighters say there haven’t been any fires in the marked buildings since the program started six months ago, which is something that doesn’t surprise Curtis.Right now, there are more than 80 structures with the ink. The fire department hopes to have over 100 within the next two months.
Rockford currently has more than 4,000 vacant homes, though not all vacant homes qualify in the international fire code to have a red x.
Chicago Fire Department news
Aug 22
Excerpts from NBCChicago.com:
The Chicago Fire Department is asking for the public’s help in finding a beloved dog who went missing. Two-year-old “Bull” got loose from Engine 116’s West Englewood firehouse at 5955 South Ashland Avenue last Saturday afternoon.
Bull is a Bullmastiff mix who was adopted by Squad 5 and Engine 116 seven months ago.
Firefighters describe the rescue dog as being very well-liked. They ask anyone who sees Bull to call 311 with more information.
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
St. Charles aldermen unanimously approved a new, four-year contract with the St. Charles Professional Firefighter’s Association I.A.F.F. local 3322. The agreement is retroactive to May 1. It expires April 30, 2020. The deal locks in raises of 2 percent each of the first three years. The final year calls for a 2.5 percent raise.
The department has about 50 full-time employees — around 18 percent of the city’s 269-person workforce. A new, $29,640 study will help determine if all those employees receive a competitive wage.The city first put its current compensation philosophy in place 20 years ago. The idea is to pay wages higher than 75 percent of comparable communities within 20 miles of St. Charles. The study will determine who the city’s competitors are and what current best management practice is for employee wages.
This from Kevin Griffin:
I stopped by Palos Height and got pictures of their new ambulance, it’s a 2016 E-350 chassis with a remounted 2005 Road Rescue box