This from Larry Shapiro:
Here’s a brief video of the House fire in Wheeling, 1-26-22
Archive for January, 2022
From Bill Schreiber:
Peotone rescue pumper update
Rosenbauer photo
Rosenbauer photo
Rosenbauer photo
Rosenbauer photo
This from Danny Nelms:
Update from macqueen on the new Norwood Park mid mount aerial
Norwood Park Fire DepartmentJob: #36069 | Illinois | Velocity 100′ Mid Mount
MacQueen photo
From Phil Stenholm:
Another installment about History of Evanston Fire Department
DUCK AND COVER
The Evanston Fire Department battled two major fires just north of the downtown “high value district” in 1956. The first blaze gutted Orchid Cleaners at 1811 Benson Avenue in January, and the second swept through the Motoport garage at 1851 Benson Avenue in September. Although the two fires occurred a block apart and within eight months of each other, they were not related.
Evanston firefighters worked for the better part of a day to extinguish the stubborn fire at Orchid Cleaners. Companies from Station # 1 were on the scene within three minutes, but could not knock the blaze down. A second alarm was struck bringing in additional companies, and the off-duty platoon was eventually called-in to provide relief for the men working at the fire, and to staff reserve apparatus. Damage was estimated at $75,000.
A combination parking garage and service station, the Motoport was located on the site of what had previously been the Flossy Dental Supply Company (destroyed by a fire in 1926), at the southeast corner of Benson & Emerson. Downtown Evanston merchants and their employees could park at the Motoport while at work, and residents living in the area who wanted a secure place to park could leave their vehicles in the garage overnight. Attendants were on duty 24/7, and could service a vehicle while it was there.
The blaze began as a vehicle fire inside the garage, before communicating to the structure itself. At the height of the blaze, thick black smoke poured from the building, as the gasoline pumps, the service bay, and one car after another caught fire. Because of the threat of explosion, the vehicles parked inside could not be saved. Train service on the nearby CTA Evanston line had to be temporarily halted because motormen could not see past the smoke. Damage to the Motoport and the vehicles parked inside was estimated at $150,000, making it the fourth highest loss from a fire in Evanston’s history up until that time.
Chicago Fire Department Commissioner Mullaney saw the Motoport fire on the local TV news, and offered to send the CFD’s two chemical rigs that were designed to extinguish gasoline fires to help quell the blaze. EFD Chief Dorband declined the offer, however, because by the time it was received the fight had already gone defensive, and nothing could be saved.
The Chicago FD had provided assistance to Evanston on numerous occasions going back to 1883, but as of 1956, the CFD had not been requested / invited to respond into Evanston since the N. U. Technological Institute conflagration in 1940, when three CFD engine companies assisted the EFD.
While the Evanston Fire Department had provided assistance to Wilmette, Skokie, Winnetka, Morton Grove, and Lincolnwood on many occasions over the years, EFD chief officers held a low opinion of the neighboring suburban fire departments, and had not requested mutual aid from any fire department other than Chicago’s since 1906.
“Civil Defense” became a part of many U. S. fire departments in the 1950’s, and to that end, the Evanston Fire Department took delivery of a fully-stocked rescue trailer and a U. S. government-surplus WWII-era Willys MB Jeep from the Federal Civil Defense Administration (FCDA) in 1954.
Painted white with a blue roof, the rescue trailer was equipped with sophisticated radiation detection equipment, radiation proximity suits, gas masks, dozens of fully-stocked first-aid kits, collapsible canvas gurneys, asbestos blankets, body bags, sand bags, shovels, hand tools, flashlights, a battery-powered two-way short-wave radio, and other gear that might be useful if a nuclear bomb was dropped on Chicago. The equipment carried in the trailer could also be useful in response to a mass casualty event like a tornado. The trailer was kept in ready-reserve at Fire Station # 1 for twenty years, but fortunately it was never needed.
Painted “CD blue,” the jeep was equipped with a trailer hitch and was supposed to pull the rescue trailer, but the trailer and its contents proved too heavy for the little jeep to pull. The jeep was used for a couple of years as a utility vehicle by the EFD mechanics, and then was transferred to the Evanston Community Golf Course in 1957, where it was used for several years by the golf course ranger.
Needing a more-powerful vehicle to pull the rescue trailer, the City of Evanston received a grant from the FCDA and purchased an International-Harvester R-140 pick-up truck in 1956. The pick-up was painted fire engine red, with red & green warning lights salvaged from one of the old dismantled Seagrave rigs. The only identification on the vehicle were the iconic CD stickers on the doors and tail-gate. It was not equipped with a siren or a radio, so it did not have a radio call-sign.
Because the rescue trailer was in actuality pulled only once a year when it was part of the North Evanston Fourth of July parade, the pick-up truck was mainly used by EFD mechanics to run errands, by the drillmaster when conducting training exercises, and to transport firefighters, air bottles, gasoline cans, rock salt, sand bags, barricades, beverages, sandwiches, and other supplies from Fire Station # 1 to the scene of a fire or other major incident. It served as the EFD’s utility vehicle for 18 years.
In addition to the Civil Defense vehicles received in 1954-56, the EFD also took delivery of four new staff cars, including a Chevrolet Nomad station wagon and a Chevrolet Bel-Air sedan in 1955, a Chevrolet 210 station-wagon in 1956, and a Ford Fairlane station-wagon in 1957. One of the Chevy station wagons (F-2) was assigned to the platoon commanders, the other Chevy wagon (F-3) and the Chevy sedan (F-4) were assigned to the Fire Prevention Bureau, and the Ford station-wagon (F-1) was assigned to Chief Dorband.
Assistant Chief William Murphy retired in November 1956, after 29 years of service with the Evanston Fire Department. Capt. Lester Breitzman replaced Chief Murphy as commander of the Fire Prevention Bureau, and Fireman George Beattie was promoted to captain, replacing Capt. Breitzman as a company officer. New firemen hired in the latter half of 1955 and through the conclusion of 1956 included Richard Brunk and Donald Melzer (August 1955), LeRoy Dullin (September 1955), James Marsh (March 1956), Frederick Nelson (November 1956), and Howard Lindeman (December 1956).
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
A blaze that killed a Des Plaines woman and her four children one year ago was caused by two electrical cords that had been improperly altered and connected. One cord was part of a space heater that had been the focus of the investigation from the start. The other was a heavy-duty extension cord plugged into a wall outlet. The space heater was inside the family’s second-floor apartment near a stairway. The extension cord was plugged into an outlet in the kitchen.
The fire occurred in the apartment building on the 700 block of West Oakton Street. The building originally was a single-family house but had been converted into apartments. Killed in the Jan. 27, 2021, blaze were Cithlaly Zamudio, 25, and daughters Renata Espinosa, 6, Genesis Espinosa, 5, Allison Espinosa, 3, and Grace Espinosa, 1.
The fire, which began about 10 a.m., trapped the victims inside because there was no safe exit other than the stairs. Two other occupants of the building got out safely with help from police and a passerby.
Forensic electrical engineers hired by an insurance company and an attorney for the family’s estate examined the building and debris inside in June as part of their investigations. They concluded the spliced cords caused the fire. As manufactured, the male end of the heater’s electrical cord and the female end of the extension cord didn’t match. The ends had been cut off so the wires inside the cords could be spliced.
The resulting electrical flash could be seen in surveillance video from a Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago facility across the street from the family’s home.
Strings of Christmas lights inside the apartment were improperly wired to each other, too, but they likely weren’t to blame for the fire.
The building where the fire occurred remains unoccupied and boarded up.
From the Prospect Heights Fire District:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2022
PROSPECT HEIGHTS —Wednesday, January 26 at 7:48 p.m. the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District was dispatched to a reported fire at 108 Patricia in Prospect Heights.
Upon arrival, a two-story home was found to have fire in the attic. Heavy smoke was coming from all eaves of the roof, and no fire had spread into the home’s interior. Within a few minutes of their arrival, the first engine had a hose stream on the fire and extinguished the original fire. Efforts were then focused on the fire spreading in the roof and attic. Simultaneous with this, a search was made of the home to ensure everyone was outside. The fire was brought under control and extinguished within 20 minutes of arrival using two hose lines and more than a dozen fire apparatus. Approximately 40 firefighters composed the response force. Firefighters spent nearly one hour checking for hot spots and fire spread to ensure the fire was completely out.
A total of five engines, five water tankers, two aerial trucks, two ambulances, one rescue squad, and several chief officers were at the scene. Besides the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District and Wheeling Fire Department that were initially dispatched, assistance was provided by Des Plaines, Glenview, Mount Prospect, and Libertyville fire departments; the Elk Grove Township, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods, and Long Grove fire protection districts.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
The Prospect Heights Fire Protections District reminds everyone to always have two ways to escape from their home, to ensure smoke alarms are present and working, and to develop an emergency plan should their home be destroyed by a fire or other disaster.
Fire sprinklers save lives and property. Had this structure been equipped with fire sprinklers, the original fire would have been extinguished prior to the arrival of the fire department or at the worst, contained to the single room where it had started.
Larry Shapiro photo
This from Larry Shapiro:
The Wheeling Fire Department received a call reporting fire in a house at 40 Versailles Court just before 8:30 PM Wednesday evening (1/26/22). The initial assignment was Glencoe Squad 30, Des Plaines Engine 61, Buffalo Grove Tower 25, Lincolnshire-Riverwoods FPD Battalion 51, Mount Prospect Battalion 3, Arlington Heights Ambulance 2, Wheeling Squad 24 and both Wheeling ambulances. The balance of the Wheeling companies including chief officers were at a house fire in neighboring Prospect Heights just over a mile away. Prospect Heights units would also have been due on the initial alarm with Wheeling companies. Des Plaines and Glencoe responded from Wheeling stations where they were providing coverage.
As the fire in Prospect Heights was winding down, command at that incident released a Wheeling engine, Wheeling chief officers, and Lincolnshire-Riverwoods Squad 51 to take in the Wheeling fire. Squad 24 was the first to arrive and initially reported nothing showing. After approaching the home on foot, they noted that the house was full of smoke and made the hydrant in the cul-de-sac. The alarm was upgraded to a Working Fire which added Mount Prospect Engine 14 and North Maine Engine 1 in addition to Wheeling Battalion 24 who cleared from the Prospect Heights incident.
Companies found a basement fire which was extinguished in short order, but he fire burned through a spot above on the first floor creating hazard to interior crews. The entire house was filled with smoke and had to be ventilated.
Larry Shapiro photo
Excerpts from the DailyHerald.com:
Firefighters from Antioch and about two dozen neighboring departments had to battle both subzero temperatures and a raging inferno inside an auto body shop early today near Lake Villa.
Temperatures were reported at 11 degrees below zero when firefighters were called to the shop on the 1600 block of North Milwaukee Avenue at about 3 a.m. With heavy fire and smoke showing upon arrival, the call was ultimately upgraded to a five-alarm blaze because water needed to be transported into the area because of a lack of nearby hydrants. Fire crews were shuttled back and forth to a nearby warming bus to avoid hypothermia.
One man believed to be the owner of the building, was transported to a hospital for smoke inhalation where he was treated and released. There were no reports of any injuries to fire personnel.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation and firefighters remained at the scene to perform any salvage work.
